ATLANTA, April 6 /PRNewswire/ -- Today, TVS Architects announced that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has opened their new Thomas R. Harkin Global Communications Center and moved into the Arlen Specter Headquarters and Emergency Operations Center on their main campus in Atlanta. Both buildings were designed by Atlanta-based architects, Thompson, Ventulett, Stainback & Associates (TVS).
The 200,000 sq.-ft. Thomas R. Harkin Global Communications Center is composed of a Conference Center, an Information Center and a Media Services Facility which all assist in the exchange of information within the CDC itself as well as with the public and health officials around the world. The center will improve communication capability with more than 10,000 CDC employees located throughout the U.S. and across the globe. Distance-learning programs will be offered for thousands of health departments nationwide and tens of thousands of scientists and public health professionals around the globe. In addition, the facility will help to educate the American public of the role CDC plays in public health.
The entry courtyard of the Thomas R. Harkin Global Communications Center features a curved wall of shingled glass serving as the gateway to the campus. The wall is composed of individual panels of translucent glass from 16 to 30 feet in height around the curve. A glass roof continues along the 600-foot length of the building; curving and changing shape until it culminates with a panoramic overlook of the landscaped commons and the new buildings of the west campus.
The Arlen Specter Headquarters and Emergency Operations Center is a 12- story structure providing the CDC with highly efficient and flexible office space. The Emergency Operations Center incorporates the most current technology, greatly enhancing CDC’s ability to manage emergency situations wherever and whenever they occur.
The distinctive curve of the building’s glass and aluminum “skin” makes the Headquarters and Emergency Operations Center stand out from the other buildings on campus. The skin is distinguished by the use of protruding sunscreens strategically located to block the intensity of the sun in the southern sky. The use of fieldstone to clad the lowest levels of the building anchors the building into the landscape. Inside the building, the typical office workspaces incorporate open work-stations maximizing efficiency and flexibility. These open workspaces enjoy the presence of natural light projected deeply into the high ceiling spaces using reflectors.
Adjacent to the new buildings is a new four-acre, landscaped “commons,” restoring previously developed land. “The area creates a traditional campus, or green ‘quad’ employees enjoy every day as they walk between the parking deck and their office or laboratory,” said Bo Crum, TVS Architect-of-Record. “We shaped the buildings to maximize the visual impact of the new landscaped areas and to create interesting vistas as people move through the spaces.”
For more information visit: www.tvsa.com or www.cdc.gov
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
CONTACT: Jennie Coakley of Centers for Disease Control and Prevention,+1-404-946-6809, or jcoakley@tvsa.com
Web site: http://www.cdc.gov/http://www.tvsa.com/
