PMFORUM Breaking News
Breaking News in the Project Management World
Wednesday, February 24, 2010
Groundbreaking held for Project to Build New US Embassy Complex in Belgrade
A
ground breaking ceremony occurred in Belgrade, Serbia on Wednesday, 10
February 2010. U.S. Ambassador to Serbia Mary Burce Warlick; Serbian
Minister for the Environment and Spatial Planning, Oliver Dulic; Mayor
Dragan Djilas of the City of Belgrade; and Managing Director for
Construction, Facility & Security Management of the Bureau of
Overseas Buildings Operations Rod Evans joined together to break ground
for the Belgrade New Embassy Compound (NEC) for the United States of
America in Serbia.
Photo at right courtesy of Ekonom:east Media Group (EMG)
The Belgrade NEC will provide a secure, safe, and functional facility for the approximately 400 employees who will work at the embassy. The NEC will consist of seven buildings including a three and half-story main chancery, Marine Security Guard Quarters, a support annex with maintenance shops, a utility building, and three compound access control structures.
The seven state-of-the-art buildings are separated but tied together by a landscape design that demonstrates the US State Department's commitment to green design and sustainability. The embassy compound will be a LEED™ (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) certified building. The compound will include the use of local materials, trees for shading to reduce heat island effect, the use of daylighting to reduce the need for artificial illumination and provide views, and use of water- and energy- efficient technologies to reduce the compound's utility load and carbon footprint.
The
centerpiece of the compound will be the three and a half-story chancery
building featuring an interior atrium and multimedia center to enhance
outreach and our public diplomacy efforts. Natural light will
illuminate the interior of the stone-clad building and the atrium will
feature natural wood walls and ceiling finishes as well as a native
granite floor.
Photo at left: US Ambassador to Serbia, Mary Burce Warlick; courtesy of US Embassy Belgrade.
Framaco International of Rye Brook, New York will construct the NEC. The approximate cost of the entire project is $117 million. The architectural firm of Louis Berger Group of Morristown, New Jersey designed the compound. The proposed completion date for the NEC is 2012. Approximately 500 workers will be involved in the construction of the facility.
The new Embassy is intended to reflect not only the importance of the bilateral relationship between the United States and Serbia, but also the breath of issues in which the two countries are engaged in as this new century progresses.
Source: News release from US State Department on 10 February 2010
The Belgrade NEC will provide a secure, safe, and functional facility for the approximately 400 employees who will work at the embassy. The NEC will consist of seven buildings including a three and half-story main chancery, Marine Security Guard Quarters, a support annex with maintenance shops, a utility building, and three compound access control structures.
The seven state-of-the-art buildings are separated but tied together by a landscape design that demonstrates the US State Department's commitment to green design and sustainability. The embassy compound will be a LEED™ (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) certified building. The compound will include the use of local materials, trees for shading to reduce heat island effect, the use of daylighting to reduce the need for artificial illumination and provide views, and use of water- and energy- efficient technologies to reduce the compound's utility load and carbon footprint.
Photo at left: US Ambassador to Serbia, Mary Burce Warlick; courtesy of US Embassy Belgrade.
Framaco International of Rye Brook, New York will construct the NEC. The approximate cost of the entire project is $117 million. The architectural firm of Louis Berger Group of Morristown, New Jersey designed the compound. The proposed completion date for the NEC is 2012. Approximately 500 workers will be involved in the construction of the facility.
The new Embassy is intended to reflect not only the importance of the bilateral relationship between the United States and Serbia, but also the breath of issues in which the two countries are engaged in as this new century progresses.
Source: News release from US State Department on 10 February 2010