Inter-American Defense College Building 60

The renovation of Building 60 for the Inter-American Defense College (IADC) has transitioned the historic building from an event space to a state-of-the-art training facility. The intent of the design was to create a general instruction building and supporting facilities for the army to meet their facilitative needs and design for a 50-year life expectancy. The purpose of the project refreshed and modernized the building by giving it all new interior finishes, improving the interior office spaces, and creating a conducive learning and working environment for both soldiers and civilians. This includes new mechanical systems, new fire alarm systems, and new electrical systems, as well as new architectural finishes and building envelope upgrades. The new interior system features new classrooms, offices, and multifunctional conferencing and meeting spaces.

Coffman provided fire protection engineering and code consulting services to renovate the historic, three-story building located at Fort McNair in Washington, DC. The 19,000 sf building included the renovation of an existing officer’s club into a general instruction building with classrooms and multipurpose training spaces. Coffman served as the Fire Protection Designer of Record (FPDOR) and Qualified Fire Protection Engineer (QFPE) for this project. Services included creating life safety, fire alarm, and fire protection drawings and specifications during the design phase and construction oversight of the active and passive fire protection systems.