National Institute of Standards & Technology Building 245 Radiation Physics Modernization

Building 245 has housed the NIST Radiation Physics Department since its original construction was completed in 1964. It was the first research facility built on the NIST Gaithersburg Campus. This department and the building currently research and create standards for radiation dose and radioactivity and provides user facilities for radiometry measurements for both outside agencies and industrial partners.  Calibration and precision are key here as measurements made within the laboratory set industrial standards across the United States.

Building 245 has a total of 208,000 square feet and is specialized with 10-foot thick concrete shield walls and large subterranean program areas.  It is designed in seven distinct wings across seven floors, with different wings housing different departments within the Radiation Physics umbrella.

This project is multi-phased in order to schedule construction alongside occupied and secured spaces, to include expansion of the laboratory capacity, renovation of existing building spaces, and replacement of mechanical, electrical, and plumbing systems through the building. The project also includes tenant relocation, equipment installations, radiation shielding improvements, site access roads and environmental remediation and protection measures. Renovations include work around radiation shielding, ionizing radiation sources, ionizing producing devices and unique, specialized laboratory systems. Waterproofing will be applied on below grade areas of the facility foundation structure in order to maintain the basement and sub-basement project areas.

There are several instances of new construction and additions within this project.  The B/C wing addition, located to the east of the existing B and C wings, is intended to provide laboratory research and support space for those wings in replacement of the previous support area in the B wing basement level. The D wing addition provides research space for the Ultraviolet Radiation Group. In contrast, G and E wing have been scheduled for demolition, for which AFG will provide relocation services.