A big array of photo voltaic panels may present cowl for the workplace constructing that developer Rushmark Properties and development agency HITT Contracting plan to construct on the Virginia Tech campus close to the West Falls Church Metro station. .
In a ultimate improvement plan just lately submitted to Fairfax County, the 2 firms — referred to as Converge West Falls LLC — suggest putting in a photovoltaic array cover on prime of the constructing, which home HITT’s company headquarters and laboratory area for Virginia Tech’s deliberate Nationwide Middle. for Sensible Development.
Standing roughly 117 toes tall, the cover covers roughly 112,000 sq. toes, making it bigger than the roof of the 270,000-square-foot constructing. It has 9 assist pillars from 91 to 111 toes, per software.
“The tree-like columns present a structural resolution whereas additionally creating a way of elevate and grandeur that mimics a contemporary forest cover,” Walsh Colucci land use lawyer Andrew Painter advised the a press release on November 22 for the applicant. “The multifunctional photo voltaic array cover additionally shades the constructing from the solar, as one of many proposed measures to scale back the constructing’s vitality.”
The array is anticipated to generate between 1,100 and 1,400 megawatts of electrical energy — sufficient to produce a lot of the constructing’s vitality, the appliance says.
Photo voltaic panels are amongst a number of facilities detailed in a trio of plans filed final week to develop Virginia Tech’s Northern Virginia Middle at 7054 Haycock Highway.
Block A
Many of the workplace constructing – 230,000 sq. toes – shall be dedicated to HITT’s headquarters, however Virginia Tech can have as much as 40,000 sq. toes on the north aspect for instructional functions. A most peak of 97 toes and 6 tales is proposed.
Below the submitted plan, the constructing could be served by a below-grade parking storage and a 23,500-square-foot entry plaza on the south aspect with built-in benches, movable tables and chairs, “playful” lighting, and backyard areas with native timber, pollinators and flowering vegetation.
“A big despair pond on the positioning shall be repurposed right into a bioretention backyard to deal with stormwater run-off and supply visible curiosity to Falls Church Drive,” Painter wrote.
Block B
Additional south on the 7.5-acre web site between Mustang Alley and Falls Church Drive shall be a 532,000-square-foot multifamily constructing with 440 residential items and 18,000 sq. toes of ground-floor retail.
Converge plans to supply a mixture of one-, two- and three-bedroom items which are “bigger than the present trade development to higher accommodate households,” based on the appliance. The constructing will attain 139 toes in peak, tapering to 82 toes alongside Falls Church Drive.
Deliberate facilities embrace residential and civic plazas with seating, landscaping, and areas for out of doors eating; a publicly accessible pickleball court docket and personal canine park alongside Falls Church Drive; and a public walkway with artwork and backyard terraces alongside Haycock Highway.
The plan supplies as much as 701 parking areas in a below-grade storage, together with as much as 86 areas for retail makes use of. The storage shall be positioned above “an occupiable vegetative roof deck and amenity area” for residents.
Block C
As a part of the redevelopment, Converge is proposing to increase West Falls Station Blvd — a brand new street included in Falls Church Metropolis’s adjoining West Falls undertaking on the previous George Mason Excessive College property — east to Falls Church Drive.
Positioned between workplace and residential buildings, the road median will function a publicly accessible park with an open garden, artwork installations and a 2,000-square-foot, one-story open-air pavilion, based on within the submitted ultimate improvement plan.
The plan additionally options raised crosswalks that may present pedestrian entry within the median and on-street bike lanes for the boulevard, with one journey lane in every course.
The county has not formally accepted the most recent functions for overview, however a conceptual plan for the general improvement is at present scheduled to go earlier than the planning fee for a public listening to in June. 7, 2023.
