Muskogee Reserve Center completed

The Haskell Company has completed a new $23 million Armed Forces Reserve Center in Muskogee, Okla., that will be designated a LEED® Silver Certified project by the U.S. Green Building Council. The 97,000-square-foot reserve center includes training areas, a drill floor, arms vaults, administrative areas, a kitchen and classrooms, all of which has been designed to house more than 450 National Guard members and Army Reserve soldiers. The ribbon cutting ceremony will be held Feb. 4, 2011.

“It has been an honor to work with the State of Oklahoma to design and build such a state-of-the-art, efficient facility for our country’s servicemen and women,” said Paul Tyler, president of Haskell’s Commercial Group. “The Armed Forces Reserve Center also represents many firsts for Haskell. This is the first LEED® Silver Certified project for our Commercial Group and it is the first of our projects to be completely designed using Revit, our building information modeling technology that allows designs to be created in 3D. We are very proud of this technology, this reserve center and the team who made it possible.”

The Armed Forces Reserve Center was designed by Haskell’s team to be reminiscent of both the historical armories of the early 1800s and the Oklahoma armories built in the 1930s. The impressive 7,500-square-foot drill hall, which features a 22-foot eave height and barrel-vault roof, serves as the focal point of the facility. To meet LEED® certification, the design team oriented the facility’s windows on the north and south sides of the building. Haskell also completed the center’s furniture, fixtures and equipment.

The Haskell team used Revit technology to design the facility, which allows the client to view a 3D representation of the completed project and allows the design team to identify modification needs early. The technology was particularly helpful on this project as it allowed Haskell to incorporate the mechanical and electrical aspects of the job in addition to the architectural design and structural engineering.

“The Muskogee Armed Forces Reserve Center represents many of the capabilities Haskell can bring to a project and it highlights our continuing advances in technology and sustainability,” Tyler said.              

Haskell was awarded the contract to serve as the design/build firm for the Armed Forces Reserve Center in early 2009 after responding to a proposal from the State of Oklahoma, Department of Central Services, Construction and Properties Division, and the Oklahoma Military Department. More information about Haskell and its design/build services is available online at www.haskell.com.

Haskell is one of America’s leading integrated design-build firms practicing in the general building and civil infrastructure markets. The company has 2009 revenues of approximately $500 million with offices in the United States and Mexico.