RTKL Associates Inc., the region's largest architectural firm, has been selected as part of a team to design a new $600 million headquarters for the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in Montgomery County.
RTKL will design the 2.6 million-square-foot complex in conjunction with the Philadelphia-based Kling-Lindquist Partnership Inc. and other consultants.
In selecting the team, the U.S. General Services Administration noted RTKL's experience with government jobs and Kling-Lindquist's knowledge of laboratory facilities.
"We've proven we can design complex buildings, and we brought a local presence and knowledge of Montgomery County to the table," said RTKL Chairman Harold L. Adams.
The mammoth federal project is the largest ever undertaken in the GSA's national capital region, which in addition to Washington encompasses Montgomery and Prince George's counties and Northern Virginia, said Jag Bhargava, a development director for the region.
It is scheduled to be completed in the Clarksburg area of the county in 2003, he said.
The project, slated for 539 acres near the Interstate 270 corridor, could involve as many as 20 buildings, Mr. Bhargava said. In addition to administrative offices, the FDA campus will include laboratories, a cafeteria, day-care center and facilities to dispose of hazardous waste.
The GSA expects the project, for which Congress has so far appropriated $325 million, to accommodate 5,500 employees when completed.
Construction is scheduled to begin on vacant farmland in October 1996. The government expects the cost of the property could exceed $100 million, and required roads and sewers $50 million more.
The Kling-Lindquist-led team is preparing to negotiate a contract with the GSA for the six-year project, the fees for which will be roughly $25 million. As lead consultant,RTKL is expected to aid in the master planning of the complex and to provide engineering services, interior design and assistance in the design of offices.
Kling-Lindquist's experience included laboratory work for the National Institutes of Health, in Bethesda, and the design of a $500 million laboratory complex in North Carolina.
RTKL has also won its share of GSA contracts, including the design of the $122.6 million U.S. Health Care Financing Administration headquarters in Woodlawn and the $90 million National Maritime Intelligence Center in Washington.
The new FDA headquarters has been in the planning stages since early 1990, when officials determined that the agency could save $100 million in rental payments annually by consolidating. The FDA is scattered throughout 45 buildings in 18 locations.