GRUNLEY COMPLETES U.S. DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR’S CAFETERIA RENOVATION
Shown left is the seating area featuring one of the three Native American murals protected and restored during construction. To the right is the servery area. Photos by Carl Cox.
Rockville, MD – Grunley Construction, under contract to the U.S. General Services Administration, recently completed renovations to the late-1930’s 28,254 SF original cafeteria of the U.S. Department of the Interior Headquarters Building in Washington, DC. The facility opened on July 28, 2010 for use by the occupants of the DOI building, the personnel of the GSA Headquarters Building (connected to DOI by a tunnel), and many public visitors. The scope of the project, designed by Shalom Baranes Associates, included complete new MEP systems, a new skylight system, new finishes and furnishings, and restored historic murals. Also, the renovation included areas surrounding the cafeteria for uses such as a credit union, a post office, a barber shop, a convenience store and two conference areas.
The project was designed to achieve LEED® CI 2.0 Gold certification. The sustainable features include a “daylight harvesting system” that controls the lighting in the main dining area; a pulper/extractor and composters to create compost from the cafeteria waste for reuse in the DOI South gardens, to produce vegetables for reuse in the cafeteria; and daylight views. The new skylights, coupled with the extensive use of a metal frame/glass wall system throughout the space, results in sunlight being dispersed to the different areas in and around the cafeteria.
The project made use of a variety of building information modeling (BIM) technologies to accurately define existing conditions and allow for more effective and efficient systems integration during construction.
Grunley Construction, headquartered in Rockville, Maryland, specializes in historic renovations, and is ranked by Engineering News Record among the “Top 400” and "Top Green Contractors" in the United States.
Date Posted: August 30, 2010