Cyber Capacity and Training for the Military and Civilians

With more than $1.6 billion slated for construction, Fort Gordon now hosts the largest military construction program in the continental United States and is scheduled for completion in 2028. During the next few years, 25 individual projects will comprise a multi-year facilities modernization plan at the northeast Georgia installation near Augusta. The largest single piece of the project, the Cyber Center of Excellence, has an estimated value of $934 million upon its completion. Key tenants on the campus include joint and national security partners along with Army organizations such as Training and Doctrine Command’s Cyber Center of Excellence, Army Cyber Command and the Army’s Intelligence and Security Command.

A Vision for the Campus

In 2018, HDR completed a comprehensive multi-phased master plan to establish the CCoE campus. The master plan included the demolition of 12 buildings, eight building renovations, the construction of four new buildings, and the installation of campus-wide infrastructure systems in a ten-year, multi-phased design and construction effort. The combination of new and renovated facilities for the campus replaces Vietnam-era training buildings with modern digital classrooms and labs allowing access to all the operational and training networks used across the Army.

HDR’s design and related services for the new buildings support the vision for the campus build-out: to integrate cyber, signal, electronic warfare, and intelligence capabilities to build operationally relevant cyber capacity and training for soldiers and civilians, within a classified and secure environment. Phase one includes the architectural/engineering design for Building 1 and Building 2.

• Building 1 is a 140,000-square-foot, $99 million, four-storey specialized Cyber Electronics Instructional Facility, Network Center, and Cyber School Command Headquarters.
• Building 2 is a 236,000-square-foot, $140 million, four-storey SCI Mission Command Headquarters, specialized Signal Electronics Instructional Facility, and Network Center.

This phase of the project includes a robust 20,000 square feet of consolidated data center, with 12kW average rack density, redundant electrical pathways to rack, and in-row coolers supplied from the campus chilled water loop.

Optimal Learning Environments

Classroom design focuses on creating the optimal environment to foster collaboration, promote innovation and facilitate leadership.  It is intended to limit noise and eye fatigue as well as provide areas of respite through a combination of flexible furniture and unrestrained power/communications distribution. Spaces are large, open, and easily combined with partitioning strategies for ultimate flexibility. Combined labs provide the necessary infrastructure and power to complete large assignments while standard labs focus on specific problems. Each learning environment is fit-out to provide a minimum of four large-format wall-mounted flat panel displays with at least one of the displays equipped with interactive touch control functionality. Highly complex and innovative audio-visual and graphic display have been designed into all laboratories, classrooms secure communications rooms, secure conference rooms and secure administrative space throughout the facilities.

AT/FP, blast analysis and design are provided for the buildings as well as acoustic analysis and performance that support SCIF program function and training curriculum. The incorporated security measures are a combination of architectural, operational, and electronic elements that contribute to the security of the learning environment.