An Advanced Individual Training reception barracks complex takes shape on Fort Sill as the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Tulsa District (SWT), in partnership with contractors and sub-contractors, works to complete the project.
“Due to current high costs for construction, SWT was only able to award a portion of the Fort Sill Fiscal Year 20 AIT complex, which included half of the barracks and a company operations facility,” said Patrick Beard, USACE-SWT’s chief, military programs. “The Army requested additional funds for the remaining portion of the project to include the other half of the barracks and company operations and dining facilities, as a Cost-to-Complete submission in the FY23 National Defense Authorization Act, which recently passed and fully funded the $179 million project.”
In addition to bedroom quarters, the project includes multipurpose classrooms, laundry facilities, dayrooms, arms vaults, scrub rooms, administrative offices and support spaces, such as common restrooms, storage, mechanical, communications and electrical rooms.
In support of the 1/78th Field Artillery Battalion’s mission to conduct it’s FA AIT mission to provide the Army with combat-ready Soldiers qualified in FA core competencies and occupational specialties. The facilities are also being built with environmental protection in mind.
According to Jeff Hirschfeld, an engineering and construction civil engineer with the USACE Fort Sill Area Office, the project is designed to achieve LEED v4 BD+C Silver certification, the next-generation standard for green building design, construction, operations and performance.
As such, the project includes several features, such as energy-efficient daylight and occupancy sensor LED lighting, water-saving plumbing fixtures, energy-efficient air handling equipment, boilers, chillers and low volatile organic compound building materials with recycled content.
“The building layout is designed to be energy efficient due to the groupings of 2-bedroom units on the north side of the building and 3-bedroom units on the south side of the building,” said Hirschfeld. “This reduces the area of the exterior building envelope and streamlines the construction process by removing the multiple exterior building corners contained, as detailed in the Centers of Standardization design layout.”
Of course, the project has had its’ challenges along the way. One such challenge included unforeseen site conditions.
“We’re building on a site that formally consisted of 1940’s era building foundations and utilities,” said Hirschfeld. “So that had to be taken into consideration as we began breaking ground.”
According to Beard, contractors have also worked through supply chain delays seen around the globe for general building materials and steel.
“However, we work with the contractors to mitigate that through early planning and seeking out a wide variety of suppliers,” added Beard.
As part of the project, contractors also constructed a dorm room mock-up structure.
“The full mock-up was constructed to identify potential construction problems or difficulties that could be encountered during construction,” said Hirschfeld. “It also serves as a mock-up for installation and application of exterior finishes.”
According to Hirschfeld, “Identifying potential conflicts or problems ahead of time allows for the team to work through potential issues well before encountering them during actual construction and works great as a visual representation of project construction techniques.”
Andrew Blankenship, the design manager with USACE-SWT’s Engineering & Construction Division, was responsible for working with the individual project development team members, which included architects, structural, electrical and mechanical engineers
“Throughout the creation of the design product, our team was tasked with conducting full design and development of all construction plans and specifications with support from Kansas City District for interior design as well as landscape architecture support from Fort Worth District,” said Blankenship. “My role was to help the team navigate the design requirements, manage scheduled deliverable dates, acquire information from the stakeholders occupying the facility, as well as conduct design review meetings to ensure the they met the needs of the building occupants.”
Additionally, the design team worked to ensure the design complies with all engineering regulations and building codes.
“As with any project, the primary challenges for us were associated with time, funding, and quality,” added Blankenship. “The Army Center of Standardization has published conceptual designs for several standard builds, like a training barracks.”
As such, the design team was required to work with the individual building occupants to ensure the standard design was sufficient for their intended use and then adjust the plan to better suit their needs.
“We were also conducting the design during a period when the economic market conditions were extremely volatile and unpredictable, making cost control quite challenging,” said Blankenship. “The team was diligent in developing innovative solutions to provide an economical design that would fall within the congressionally appropriated budget.”
Blankenship also said the coordination among the multiple disciplines involved in the design was constant, cohesive, professional and resembled that of any private sector design firm.
“The capability to perform full-scale design, internal to SWT sometimes surprises folks,” said Blankenship. “The dedication each team member had to ensure the facility was designed with engineering precision, while also taking the time to understand and account for the user’s intended function for each space was extremely impressive to observe.”
For this project, the design team utilized a standard design as a basis for the floor plan. However, they were also required to adjust alterations and allowances based on how the user intended to utilize each space.
“We had several discussions with the stakeholders to fully understand their needs, concerns, and issues they’ve had with similar facilities,” said Blankenship. “We also consider the lifecycle costs of the facility to lessen the strain on operations and maintenance budgets.
Blankenship concluded by saying the design provided was from the ground up, starting with the geotechnical design of the building foundation, civil design for the site drainage and appurtenances, structural design of the multi-story facility and clad with architectural design to match the façade of the adjacent facilities and overall installation.
“We were also fortunate in that one of our local active-duty officers was able to help with design considerations by reviewing the project
and providing thoughts based on his experience having lived and managed Army units living in similar barracks,” said Blankenship.
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