Armed Forces Reserve Center

Danbury, Connecticut

Michael Baker served as lead designer for the design-build delivery of a new 1,000-member Armed Forces Reserve Center for the U.S. Army Reserve and Connecticut Army National Guard. The center was created through the federal Base Realignment and Closure program that aimed to provide more modern facilities while cutting maintenance costs for older, outdated buildings.

The project sits on a 17-acre site near Danbury, Connecticut and consists of a new 96,173-square-foot, two-story training center, an 18,116-square-foot five-bay vehicle maintenance shop, a 3,038-square-foot unheated storage building and covered wash rack in a campus setting. The hilly topography of the site presented many challenges, which were successfully resolved with efficient layouts, both above ground and underground stormwater detention systems and segmented retaining wall systems.

The training center includes an assembly hall, administrative areas, kitchen, locker room facilities and armory. The building includes classrooms and computer labs to train soldiers in the latest military techniques and strategies.

The six-bay regional maintenance shop for military vehicles features automatic fluid delivery systems, heated work bay floors, controlled waste, flammable storage, classrooms and office space.

The development of a Building Information Modeling (BIM) representation of the project enabled the contractor to reduce the discovery of conflicts in the field, which resulted in less requests for information, more efficient and rapid construction and less rework.

The project has obtained LEED® Gold certification from the U.S. Green Building Council. Our team designed the facility using strategies aimed at improving energy savings, water efficiency, carbon dioxide emissions reduction, indoor environmental quality and stewardship of natural resources. The project is 30 percent more energy efficient than comparable buildings. Designed to reduce water use by 40 percent or greater, the facility also utilizes landscaping that does not require potable water use or irrigation.