U.S. Air Force B-Wing Administration Building

When the U.S. Air Force needed to add administrative space for 3,000 personnel at the Joint Base San Antonio Randolph Air Force Base, the Bodwé team designed the multi-story B-Wing Extension to facilitate that growth. Building 499 originally had a B-Wing built in the 1960s but it was demolished due to significant deficiencies. At the time, personnel and functions were temporarily relocated into other buildings throughout the campus until a new B-Wing could be built in its place.

The multi-story building reunites and expands operations of the Air Force Personnel Center (AFPC), which provides 200 programs to airmen and their families, including the Wounded Warrior Division, disability, legal, and family services, and more.

The Alliance Steelhead JV and Seven Generations Architecture + Engineering team designed a modern, energy-efficient, 68,000-square-foot, professional building that helps tie the campus together, linking critical mission components to create an efficient and cohesive operation. The building features administrative offices, meeting rooms, conference rooms, reception areas, file rooms, break rooms, a post office/mail room, server room, and storage. In addition, space will be devoted to a 24/7 call center. Parking and access roads on site were also improved.

The new facility is designed to achieve energy goals of 37.5% better performance than current industry standards. The facility was designed to operate at Net Zero Energy, accomplished through an extensive high-efficiency roof-mounted solar array, rainwater collection for restroom toilets and irrigation, thermal efficiency, and an advantageous site orientation that was chosen to maximize seasonal solar impact and 550 KW solar photovoltaic panels.

The Net Zero Energy building also classifies as a Living Building Challenge project, one of the most rigorous green building standards in the world, requiring projects to produce more clean water and energy than they use.

The B-Wing building envelope is made up of Insulated Concrete Forms (ICF) that significantly decrease heat and sound transfer, keeping the interior environment comfortable and using less energy. Finally, a physical security plan and measures were included as part of the Department of Defense anti-terrorism/force protection requirements and Unified Facility Criteria (UFC).