The Aerospace Corporation broke ground on a new 40-acre campus in Chantilly, VA, on June 16, 2011. More than 200 people attended the event, including leadership from Aerospace, Fairfax County, and the National Reconnaissance Office (NRO), a major customer of Aerospace.
Construction of the master-planned, multi-phased project in the Westfields area is scheduled to begin in July 2011. The initial phase of the development includes approximately 180,000 sq ft of Class A office, a visitor center, data center, and underground and surface parking areas. Substantial completion is expected by December 2013. Occupancy is anticipated to take place in 2014.
Dr. Wanda Austinm Aerospace president and CEO, noted in her opening remarks that “The new campus will enable Aerospace to improve support to our customers. We currently have employees working in several buildings in Chantilly; the new campus will bring them together and make them more accessible to our customers.”
Michael Frey, member of the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors, remarked that the campus construction will be a huge economic lift to the community and a source of pride. “When you see the NRO, and you see Aerospace going up, you know that they are both playing a leading role in the development of our national security and our technologies.” He went on to praise the environmental measures taken by Aerospace in the design of the campus.
Aerospace voluntarily established a private conservation area of more than 28 acres and extensive measures were taken to correct drainage and restore natural streams. A major stream restoration project led to The Aerospace Corporation receiving multiple Fairfax County Land Conservation awards, including a Tree Preservation and Tree Planting Conservation Award, presented by the Urban Forest Management Division in Fairfax County, and the Best Project for Land Conservation and best Project Environmentally awards from Fairfax County. The campus buildings will meet criteria for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certification.
“Environmental responsibility has been a factor in every decision we've made on this project, from concept through design,” stated Dan Barbee, general manager of facilities at Aerospace. “We have worked very hard to minimize the impact of the project on the environment and protect the surrounding preserve.’
The architect for the Chantilly campus project is KGD, the general contractor is James G. Davis Construction Corporation, DRI is providing consulting services, the developer is the Duke Realty Corporation, and CH2M HILL performed the architectural, engineering and IT system design for the project’s mission critical data center component