January 2019
West Point's Davis Barracks is Named Best of the Best by ENR Magazine
The new Davis Barracks at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point has been named the best residential/hospitality project in the United States by Engineering News-Record, part of their Best of the Best Project Awards for 2018.
Davis Barracks houses 650 cadets across 287,000 square feet. Built by Walsh Construction and designed by Clark Nexsen, the six floor building provides Cadets with latrines and showers, a laundry area, day rooms, office areas, study and collaboration rooms, trash and recycling areas and offices.
The project team blasted and removed nearly 60 feet of rock from the top of a mountain to prepare the foundation of the barracks facility. Additionally, 285,000 tons of rock was removed, relocated and recycled at off-site locations. The barracks combines sensitivity to West Point's National Historic Landmark campus with 167,901 pieces of hand-set granite stone placed for the exterior facade and triple-glazed insulated windows to enhance cadet living and study quarters.
All project work, including the placement of more than 25,000 cubic yards of concrete, was completed from a restricted project site surrounded by historic structures occupied by over 4000 Cadets.
Davis Barracks achieved LEED Silver certification, incorporating a variety of innovative sustainable features throughout the facility.
The barracks are named in honor of Lt. Gen. Benjamin O. Davis Jr. who passed away in 2002 at age 89. Davis entered West Point in 1932 as its only African American Cadet, and was shunned during his four year enrollment. He persevered, and had a decorated career commanding the all-black 332nd Fighter Group, known as the Red Tails, and becoming the first black general of the Air Force. Davis retired as a three-star general in 1970 and was awarded a fourth star in 1998 by President Bill Clinton.
Around 820 projects were submitted in 20 categories last spring to one of ENR’s 10 regional Best Projects competitions. Those 200 winning regional projects then automatically moved on to be judged among the other regional winners by a new, national jury. Davis Barracks is among the 20 projects ultimately picked as ‘Best of the Best’ out of more than 800 entries.
Click here to read ENR's feature article on Davis Barracks.
Owner: USACE NY District
Architect and Engineer of Record: Clark Nexsen
General Contractor: Walsh Construction
Design Architect: STV/URS Joint Venture
Geotechnical Surveying: Tectonic Engineering & Surveying Consultants
Commissioning Agent: AECOM Technical Services Inc.