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Building Statistics

Part 1

General Building Data

Building Name: Newseum and Freedom Forum Headquarters

Location and Site: 555 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W., Washington, D.C.

Building Occupant Name: The Freedom Forum

Occupancy: Mixed use – Gallery/Exhibits, residential, office, retail, 500 seat auditorium

Size: 550,000 square feet

Number of Stories: 7

Project Team:

Dates of Construction:   2003 - November 2007

Overall Project Cost: $200 million

Project Delivery Method: *information being researched

Architecture

Architecture: The Newseum and Freedom Forum Headquarters is meant to be a gateway between the media and the public. It emphasizes the importance of free press in society. This is done with 14 gallery spaces, theatres, broadcast studios, and exhibits including Checkpoint Charlie from the Berlin Wall, and a radio antenna from the World Trade Center Building on 9/11. Other spaces include a 500 seat 4-D theatre equipped with moving seats; a restaurant, The Source, run by Wolfgang Puck; 140,000 square feet of residential housing; and retail space. Means of egress is also a major part of the design. All guests enter the bottom floor into an orientation room. From there they are taken by elevator to the top floor where they can then see all the galleries and exhibits on the way back down. This keeps the flow of traffic running smoothly. Another feature is the layout of the broadcast rooms. They are oriented so that the backdrop of the show being recorded is looking down Pennsylvania Avenue to the Capitol building.

National Codes: * information being researched

Zoning: DD/C4 – Downtown development – Maximum height of 130 feet, and a maximum floor area ratio of 6.0 – 10.0

Historical Requirements: N/A

Building Envelope: The predominant south facing façade along Pennsylvania Avenue is a glass curtain wall which allows views from the street of the atrium and media wall. Also on the south façade is a 60 foot high plane of marble which is engraved with the first amendment. Transparent glass covers most of the rest of the building.

Part 2

Construction
The Newseum and Freedom Forum Headquarters is located on Pennsylvania Avenue, a few blocks from the capitol building. There are seven stories above grade, with three basement levels. A design-bid-build delivery method was used, with a price tag of around $200 million. Construction started in 2003 and is expected to be completed in November of 2007. Spring of 2008 is when it should be open to the public. For some of the galleries a crane was used to put exhibits in place during construction and the building was then built around them.

Electrical
Power is supplied to the Newseum by PEPCO electric service in Washington, D.C. The service entrance to the building is on the B-1 Mezzanine level. A total of three main services, all connected to a totalization meter, enter the building. Each goes to a 4000 A main switchboard. The newseum is served on a 460Y/265V, 3PH, 4W system, while the residential section is served by a 208Y/120V, 3 PH, 4 W system. A 2250 kW diesel engine powered generator is used for the buildings emergency power.

Lighting
Downlighting in the atrium is running on 277V, while lighting in the rest of the building is running on 120V. Daylighting is also a main part of the atrium lighting due to the glass curtain façade. Recessed par lamp downlights are used in all circulation areas. The freedom forum offices use recessed 2x2 direct/indirect fixtures with fluorescent lamps.
Gallery spaces use a variety of lighting systems. They use track lighting to accent exhibits. Fiber optic lighting is also used inside of the display cases. Lighting in the galleries is controlled by dimmable switching.

Mechanical
The Newseum building uses a radiant floor heating system. There are four 742 ton cooling towers that provide a total flow rate of 5940 gpm. A roof top A/C unit is above the residential roof. It flows at 6000 cfm. Air quality inside some of the display cases is of high importance because of the historic documents. Conditioned air which is run through a humidifier/dehumidifier system is supplied inside of these display cases.

Structural
The Newseum building utilizes a continuous poured concrete foundation. It is poured against a bentonite panels for waterproofing. The flooring is concrete slab on metal deck. Structural steel beams and columns form the superstructure of the building. A glass façade envelope covers the structure. There is a concrete slab roof deck.

Fire protection
The fire alarm system is composed of bells with strobes to comply with ADA standards. A sprinkler system also runs throughout the building. Magnetic door holders are also used in circulation areas to allow for quick evacuation.

Transportation
The Newseum is serviced by three main elevators. The idea is to have guests enter and take the elevator to the top level. From here they work there way down viewing galleries on each floor.

Telecommunications
The main telecommunication room for the newseum is located on basement level B-2, on the east end. (4) – 4” conduits then run to each floors telecommunication room. The residential portion has a separate main telecommunication room located at the west end of level B-2. (1) – 1” conduit goes to each apartment supplying telephone and cable.

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This page was last updated on 10/15/07, by Ryan Wise and is hosted by the AE Department ©2008