Projects
Flying High
USAFA Visitor Center | Colorado Springs, CO
Completed as GE Johnson Construction Company
Inspired by aircraft taking flight, the United States Air Force Academy Visitor Center serves as an iconic welcome to the Academy, Colorado Springs, and the Front Range.
About The Project
The Visitor Center is part of a 50-acre development site outside the North Academy gates and is connected to Hotel Polaris, also constructed by our team, with a pedestrian bridge above North Gate Boulevard. Construction included an exterior metal wall panel system, curtain wall and storefront, thermoplastic polyolefin (TPO) roof, and three metal panel roof systems. The roof mimics an airplane taking off for flight, with the facility entrance also featuring an oval entryway portal. The interior helical grand staircase highlights views of the Front Range and Hotel Polaris. The staircase includes a floating glass railing and terrazzo flooring. The south's large vertical space has single pipe columns that are up to 97' tall, underground ductwork, and a radiant cooling system.
The team came in under the final budget and was able to give a sizeable amount of construction contingency and general project requirement funds back at the end of the project. This was achieved through design-assist focus groups being conducted early and often, continued team communication on budgets and cost savings opportunities, and a commitment to quality control to alleviate re-work.
Aligning Design to Construction
The waterproofing for the joinery and trim between the metal roof, metal panel soffits, storefront clerestory, metal wall panels, and cast stone required a heavy design-assist effort to bring the building to constructability.
Roof Safety
With the tallest roof deck at a 42-degree angle, it was pertinent that we performed a safe installation. The team established the requirements for 100% tie-off on our upper roof decks and control lines on the lower decks. Permanent roof davits were added to the project early and installed with the structural steel of the building to utilize for construction as well as future end-user maintenance.
Lessons Learned
The Visitor Center proved to be a great hub to teach general and unique building components for the exteriors and interiors of a building. We were able to teach and share our exterior wall layer make up, interior slab radiant cooling system, and underground duct components. Due to the unique exterior angles, the team was also able to share the struggles that we overcame from a design and constructability standpoint, which consisted of tolerance build up with the compounding slopes of the building and weather proofing between systems.
Fast Facts
- We leaned into our Virtual Design Construction (VDC) team to identify risks and controls on each of the building's sloped roof decks.
- There were days with eight 135-150’ boom lifts surrounding the building. It was critical to ensure controlled access zones were maintained to allow safe access in and out of the building.
- Due to the extensive exterior skin and roofing systems of the building, the adverse weather conditions experienced on this job site served as one of the biggest challenges. The team faced 90-mile-per-hour wind speeds, upwards of 22 inches of snowfall in a day, and seasonal rain.
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