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NAS JRB Visitor Control Center and Vehicle Inspection Facilities

Project Overview
The Naval Air Station Joint Reserve Base (NASJRB) in Belle Chasse, Louisiana, is home to commands representing multiple government agencies. The base is a hub of activity and supports men and women who live, work, or serve on the installation. During peak hours, the main entry gate often exceeded its capacity necessitating a back entry gate to improve traffic flow and control. Along with the road access and regular vehicle entry gate, the new back gate required a Visitor Control Center (VCC) to check-in base guests and a Commercial Vehicle Inspection Facility (VIF) to perform security inspections on commercial delivery vehicles. Royal was selected by the construction contractor to serve as its design build partner. We designed the VCC building, VIF canopy, VIF building, associated access roads, parking lots, utilities, storm drainage systems, and landscaping. A unique design feature of this project was the inclusion of a static display consisting of an F-18 fighter jet suspended in air by a steel structure and framed with a hardscaped patio area featuring benches and landscaping.

Project Work and Royal Solutions
Royal led the design team consisting of architects, landscape architects, and structural, civil, mechanical, electrical, and fire protection engineers. The project was mandated to meet the local NAS JRB base requirements, NAVFAC requirements, and Unified Facilities Criteria codes, as well as local, state, and federal codes. Royal’s design team worked closely with the client’s cost estimators to design solutions that kept the project within the design build budget while meeting the needs of the end users.

To enhance the environmental aspects of the project, our civil engineering group partnered with landscape architects to design low-impact development stormwater features that incorporated diverse native plantings to accentuate the landscape design, stabilized the soil, and create a series of rain gardens to retain stormwater runoff.

Royal’s structural engineers workshopped several design options to support the F-18 fighter jet so that it appeared “in flight.” Royal’s architecture team managed the project and coordinated between all disciplines. We created renderings of the different F-18 static display options along with the buildings and VIF canopy. Ultimately, the completed design incorporated the building typology of the front gate with updated detailing and finishes to meet the current UFC code and the scope of the design build proposal.