Biggs Army Airfield Air Traffic Control Tower and Base Building

Biggs Army Airfield holds one of the country’s longest runways (13,556 FT) and monitors around 100,000 aircraft movements a year. Air traffic control is a critical element in the mission control of the Army installation that includes the 1st Armored Division‘s Combat Aviation Brigade, and the 127th Aviation Support Battalion, made up of AH-64 Apache, UH-60 Black Hawk, and CH-47 Chinook helicopters. It also services Air Force One.

LEO A DALY was selected by the US Army Corps of Engineers-Fort Worth District, to develop the design-build construction documents and provide construction administration services for the new 10-story control tower and 3,600-SF administrative base building. The control tower is comprised of cast-in-place concrete walls and continuous exterior insulation, providing significant energy savings with inherent structural capacity. Unique to this tower, window openings provide daylight and views to levels two through nine, while the level 10 cab glass provides mission-essential 360-degree viewing. Placed midway to the side of the runway, the new tower provides better visibility of the runway, aircraft and the  maintenance/parking ramp. 

A raised main entry calls attention to the single-story administrative wing with offices, training rooms, and other support spaces. The project also includes a communications transmitter building and three remote transmitter receiver antennas.

In addition to continuous insulation, additional energy- and water-saving strategies include the use of sun shades and interior light shelves on south and west facades, reflective roof membranes, high R-value roof and wall systems, and low-flow plumbing fixtures. Materials were chosen to last decades and stand up to continuous occupancy use. The facility is designed to achieve LEED-NC Silver certification and is committed to sharing benchmark energy- and water-savings data through an additional ENERGY STAR certification.