Dominion Energy® Aircraft Hangar
Project Profile:
Dominion Energy operates in 16 states across the U.S., offering clean, safe, reliable, and affordable energy to more than 7 million customers.
The project included the building of three structures at the Richmond International Airport to use, service, and store a fleet of corporate jets for Dominion Energy – an aircraft hangar, an attached maintenance building, and an attached office building.
The project architect was Balzer and Associates, and local firm Century Construction, a metal buildings specialist, served as General Contractor.
OWN, Inc. provided structural engineering on the project while Kansas City, Missouri-based Bluescope Conventional Steel Services (BCSS), the U.S. affiliate of the Australian-owned steel manufacturer, handled detailing, fabrication, and delivery components of the steel structures.
The 29,000-square-foot hangar was designed to house and service Dominion’s fleet of corporate jets. The 197-foot-wide truss provided support for the hangar door. The conventional truss consisted of wide flange web and chords, and was over 11 foot deep while the rest of the hangar utilized Bluescope’s metal building components.
The hangar also featured an integrated life safety support system for aircraft maintenance workers as well as a wet sprinkler system for fire prevention. Both added significant load to the roof.
Finally, a sliding door with hangar door pockets composed of eight leaves per side allowed movement of the planes in or out.
The 2-story maintenance building was built using conventional construction, with steel studs for cladding and bar joists for the roof. Bar joists with deck and concrete provided structure for the floor. The 4,700-square-feet building housed parts, tools, and supplies for maintaining the fleet.
The 6,500-square-foot office is a single-story conventional structure, much like the maintenance building. An inviting porte cochère provides shelter from the elements for vehicles loading and unloading passengers. Two full sides of the building featured full-height glazing offering jaw-dropping views of the airfield. From a structural standpoint, deflection was critical to avoid cracking the glass.
During the design process, OWN used 3D models in Autodesk Revit to coordinate with the architects making sure everything would fit snugly before it arrives on site. Sharing of models is a collaborative process and helps the broader team with “clash detection”, or catching problems before the steel hits the site. This helps to prevent field fit up and clash issues..
Throughout the project, OWN helped the builder hit its milestones. This resulted in a build that finished on time, on budget, and the creation of a home base for the fleet that’s the envy of corporate executives across the land.
