BTA awarded for excellence in design for next generation weapons development simulator
Bullock Tice Associates has been awarded a prestigious Merit Award in the 2020 USAF Design Awards Program for excellence in design for their work in coordination with the U.S. Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) to design the Virtual Warfare Munitions Simulator Facility (VWaMS) on Eglin Air Force Base, Fla.
The USAF Design Awards Program is coordinated by the Air Force Civil Engineer Center and recognized seven innovative designs in 2020 from projects that embodied the best in new construction, landscape architecture, and facility renovations and additions nationwide. The seven winning projects were judged not only on their aesthetic merits, but strong emphasis was placed on overall cost control, energy efficiency, functionality and sustainability.
The VWaMS is a one-story, 6,520-square-foot controlled access facility that provides the Air Force Research Laboratory, Munitions Directorate (AFRL/RW) with an immersive design center to create a live, virtual, constructive (LVC) environment in support of next generation weapons development and testing for AFRL. The primary feature of the facility is its 43-person auditorium that includes a tiered console seating fit-out with immersive audio and visual technologies (such as 20-inch touch-screen interactive display monitors at each workstation and a 16-foot high by 41-foot-wide curved screen to display simultaneously projected images) and secure analysis room functions. Bullock Tice Associates provided astute design services, including interior design, for the entire facility.
The Air Force Design Awards Program is led by AFCEC’s Facility Engineering Directorate, the unit responsible for delivering timely infrastructure solutions Air Force wide.
“The program is much more than a contest,” said Randy Lierly, Air Force architect and Air Force Design Awards program manager. “While it’s great to be recognized for a job well-done, this program is an essential tool the Air Force utilizes to declare its principles of excellence to prospective design firms engaged in Air Force projects.”
BTA Design Team:
Robert Maggiore, Registered Architect (RA), Project Manager; Mike Fox, RA, Project Architect; and Maryanne MacNeil, Interior Designer.
Consultants:
Baskerville-Donovan, Inc./Civil, Survey and Permitting; Schmidt Consulting/Mechanical Engineering; Joe DeReuil Associates/Structural Engineering; Klocke & Associates, Inc./Electrical Engineering; Fisher Engineering, Inc./Fire Protection Engineering; MOCA/MII Cost Estimating; Bagwell Engineering/Telecom/A/V Design; and WAS Design, Inc./Landscape Design.
