Government

Fort Belvoir Commissary

The Fort Belvoir Commissary is a new commissary for the Defense Commissary Agency (DeCA) at Fort Belvoir, Virginia. The 142,000-square-foot store holds the retail sales floor, non-perishable and refrigerated storage, a receiving and staging area, and administrative space on a mezzanine across the front of the building. It was designed as a companion to the adjacent Army & Air Force Exchange Service (AAFES) Exchange, so the two buildings read as one shopping center and an extension of the future Town Center area of the installation. The exterior follows the Fort Belvoir Installation Design Guide: traditional architecture, careful brick detailing, and a tall glazed gable-end entry that matches the Exchange and is easy to find from the parking lot. Standing seam metal canopies on steel columns shelter customers along the front, and rooftop mechanical equipment sits toward the rear, out of view from the parking area.

The Jenkins Group was the prime architect and designer of record. The firm handled design management, quality control, LEED documentation, and the architectural and interior design, with civil, structural, and mechanical, electrical, and fire protection engineering provided by consultants. It presented the design to the National Capital Planning Commission (NCPC), which oversees projects in the Washington region, and secured its approval. The site had steep grade changes and complicated traffic, and the design was coordinated with the Exchange next door. Stormwater is handled by a zero-release design of permeable pavement over underground rock infiltration beds in the customer parking area, with bio-retention ponds. The building includes a covered e-commerce canopy for drive-up service, and was designed to attain LEED Silver. It was delivered design-bid-build.