Press Releases > USPTO New Headquarters in Alexandria, VA.

Child Development Center

The USPTO Innovation Station Child Development Center lets employees enroll their children and grandchildren in a state-of-the-art early learning facility in the midst of the new headquarters complex. The Center accommodates up to 138 children from ages six weeks to six years old.

Security

The complex is designed with heightened and integrated security. Security personnel monitor the entire campus, including the parking garages, and a security checkpoint in each lobby controls access.

Public Amenities

The complex also has a host of public amenities, including the popular Patent and Trademark Office Museum--which will reopen on July 13--a full-service cafeteria and Dulany Gardens, a landscaped two-acre park located at the center of the facility featuring benches, brick walkways, and a water fountain.

During construction:

Up to 1,000 workers were onsite at height of construction; eight cranes operated simultaneously during this phase;

3,700 piles were driven over first nine months of construction;

225,000 cubic yards of concrete, 22,500 tons of rebar, and over one million cables were used;

Two million bricks, 700,000 cinder blocks, and 3,000 units of exterior pre-cast concrete were laid;

3,400 punch windows and 16,000 square feet of mirrored glass; as well as

Enough cooling for 2,000 homes, 27,000 circuit breakers, 14,000+ light fixtures, and 2,560 plumbing fixtures were installed.

For over a decade, the USPTO and the General Services Administration (GSA) have been working to consolidate and update the USPTO facilities. In June 2000, GSA signed a 20-year lease with LCOR Alexandria, LLC to develop office and related space for the USPTO in Alexandria, VA. The USPTO, GSA, and LCOR broke ground in January 2001. The first phase of occupancy began the first week of December 2003. It is the largest lease in the GSA inventory and is also the biggest lease-construction project ever undertaken by GSA.

Designed by Skidmore, Owings and Merrill architectural firm, the buildings were constructed by Turner Construction Company. Gensler architectural and interior design provided the interior design.