Attach 6 - Executive Summary - 30 Oct 10.doc

FA4690-10-R-K102

Executive Summary, Attachment 6

Executive Summary – 30 Oct 10 Ellsworth Air Force Base currently consists of six clearly distinguishable districts:

Mixed Use Central Core

Flight Line

Flight Line Support

Facilities Engineering

Residential Neighborhoods

Wetlands/Recreational

The clear distinction of each of the districts and their precise functional adjacency presents a highly ordered and well organized environment for pursuing the base mission. Each of the districts is functionally distinct and, consequently, each district has unique physical characteristics. It is the goal of these Design Compatibility Standards to enrich the unique character of each district while promoting policies reinforcing a harmonious base-wide visual appearance.

Hence, these Design Compatibility Standards have been formulated to:

Promote conformance with the Air Combat Command (ACC) Architectural and Interior Design Standards.

Further the development of a Prairie base-wide “corporate image” through the creation of a base-wide “campus atmosphere.”

Further the architectural style of the base, by establishing clear guidelines for achieving a coherent “Prairie Modern” architectural style.

While a military base certainly possesses unique functional requirements (high security, munitions and fuels storage, mission training, etc.) and spatial areas (e.g. runways and hangars, weapons storage, rifle ranges), the majority of the base physical plant corresponds roughly with current developments of corporate office parks and college campuses.

The development of a “corporate image” involves visual unification of the physical elements of the base. Implementing standard wall and roof materials, standardizing the ratio of windows and walls, specifying common colors, and selecting common accessories will lend visual coherence throughout a base. Similarly, the development of a “campus atmosphere” involves overall spatial unification, i.e. development of a clear, orderly arrangement of buildings with common relationships to the streets, to the base open space and to each other.

The development of a “Prairie Modern” style, an architectural style unique to Ellsworth Air Force Base, consists of broad, strong, horizontal masonry wall elements (recalling the linearity of the prairie) into which are inserted light, vertically oriented, (often glazed) elements which serve as visual landmarks as well as points of entry. While the Rushmore Center clearly stands out as the apex of the “Prairie Modern” style on the base, the 37th Bomb Squadron Life Support Facility at 129 Ryan Street and the 28th Bomb Wings Headquarters and Operations Building on Scott Drive all exemplify elements of the “Prairie Modern” style.

In pursuit of these overall objectives, this manual has been established to provide coordinated design criteria throughout the base. These criteria include:

Site Design Standards

Architectural Standards

Interior Design Standards

Landscape Architecture Standards

Signage Standards

Site Lighting Standards

Engineering Standards.

All projects at Ellsworth Air Force Base must be constructed in accordance with the Ellsworth Design Compatibility Standards, the ACC Architectural and Interior Design Standards, dated August 1996 (Appendix 2), the Americans with Disabilities Act, the Uniform Federal Accessibility Standards, the Uniform Building Code and the Force Protection Guidelines.