Renovation of the Inter-American Defense College Receives Three DBIA Mid-Atlantic Awards

KCCT Principals Gayle Kirchmar and Christopher Peoples are pleased to announce that the renovation of the Inter-American Defense College (IADC) at Fort McNair has received the Design Build Institute of America Mid-Atlantic Chapter Award of Excellence for Buildings / Facilities, as well as two special recognition awards for Best in Teaming and Best in Design Excellence—Architecture.

The design-build partnership of KCCT and Mortenson transitioned a historic officers’ club into a modern education facility for the IADC, positioning the building to meet IADC goals of bringing together students from countries with different political, social, and economic viewpoints to capture the dynamics more fully within the hemisphere and develop collaborative responses to defense and security concerns.

“Collaboration is central to everything we do,” said Peoples. “This was a special project with multiple layers, and I am proud of the way the KCCT team, the Mortenson team, and all of our partner firms were able to work together so effectively to support the US Army Corps of Engineers’ need for functionality and longevity in this building.”

Originally designed by McKim, Mead & White and constructed in 1905 as part of the master plan for Fort McNair, the building is considered the base’s second most prominent building and recognized as a contributing resource of the National Register-eligible Fort McNair Historic District. A key design objective for the project was to restore the building’s historic integrity.

“We are honored to have our commitment to excellence in design recognized,” said Kirchmar. “We approached this project as stewards of the original design intent, preserving the contributing details and providing appropriate interventions where needed.”