NASA Ames Research Center Engineering and Mission Operations (EMO) Facility N278 Project

Through its Design Excellence Program, the U.S. General Services Administration (GSA) commissions our nation’s most talented creative professionals to design outstanding federal workplaces. These projects embody an exemplary integrated process whose results deliver enduring value to taxpayers. GSA defines quality as the thoughtful expression of artistry, local culture, and democratic values like civic participation, accessibility, and transparency, achieved in balance with affordability, constructability, reliability, and industry-leading sustainable performance.

Design Excellence is the means by which GSA realizes the Guiding Principles for Federal Architecture, which President Kennedy authorized in 1962, and it is one of the agency’s primary vehicles for catalyzing positive, inclusive change in local communities. Continuing this legacy of world-class public architecture, GSA announces an opportunity for Design Excellence for the Engineering and Mission Operations Facility (EMO) N278 to be constructed within the NASA Ames Research Center in Moffett Field, CA..

The General Services Administration (GSA) is soliciting Design-Build teams for design and construction services for the Engineering and Mission Operations (EMO) Facility N278 to be constructed within the NASA Ames Research Center in Moffett Field, CA.. The General Services Administration (GSA), Public Buildings Service (PBS) is serving the project as the contracting entity working on behalf of NASA as the facility’s operator and end-user.  The GSA has contracted AECOM to prepare a program of requirements for the design-build project.  The program includes:

• Existing Building and Site Demolition - As part of this Design-Build Contract, two existing buildings and a gas filling station will be demolished. The two existing buildings requiring demolition include the Motor Pool (Building N251) and the Machine Shop (BuildingN216). Two (2) existing Motor Pool Fuel pumps with underground fuel tanks are located at the East Side of the site and will also require demolition and the environmental closure of the fuel tank.

• Design and Construction of the new Building N278 - This new facility has a minimum goal of 30,292 GSF that will co-locate several key program functions and include offices, meeting space, technical labs, support space, and collaborative/conference space. Building N278 will be an important contribution towards realizing the goals of the “walkable campus” as outlined in the Center Master Plan for the NASA Ames Research Center and will address NASA’s requirements to reduce the footprint and O&M costs while providing a healthy, safe, efficient, modern, flexible, and sustainable work environment. The site selected for this facility is owned by NASA and is located at the Southwest intersection of Warner Road and Mark Avenue on the Ames Research Center campus.

The General Services Administration shall utilize the Two-Phase Design Build project delivery method in conjunction with the GSA’s Design Excellence & Construction Excellence Programs, designed to provide taxpayers with outstanding and cost-effective federal buildings.

GSA has engaged a Construction Manager (CMa) who has completed a Design-Build RFP for the project. The design-build contractor will be required to have the ability to successfully coordinate all of the trade/subcontractor work and complete this project with all applicable government guidelines governing the work.

This procurement will be solicited as a Full & Open Procurement.

The applicable NAICS code is 236220, Commercial and Institutional Building Construction, and the small business size standard is $45 million.

Magnitude of Construction:

The order of magnitude for the contemplated acquisition, inclusive of base and all options, is between $33,000,000 and $43,000,000.

The location of performance is:

NASA AMES Research Center, Moffett Field, CA 94035

The project estimated completion time is 730 days from notice to proceed.  The overall project duration includes the period of performance for both design and construction services with the design-builder encouraged to take advantage of early work packages available in the design-build delivery method.   .

The Government will issue a single solicitation covering both phases of the Two-Phase Design-Build Selection Procedures set forth in FAR 36.3. In Phase 1 technical qualifications will be evaluated to determine Offerors that will submit proposals for Phase 2. Three (3) Offerors will be short-listed and invited to submit Phase 2 proposals. Those unsuccessful offerors participating in Phase 2 will be paid a stipend of $70,000 to offset the costs associated with the preparation of required conceptual designs.

The selection factors for each phase are as follows:

Phase 1

Factor 1 – Technical Qualifications 

Subfactor 1.A – Prior Experience On Relevant Projects

Subfactor 1.B – Past Performance On Relevant Projects

Factor 2 – Approach to Design Build 

Factor 3 – Lead Designer 

Phase 2

Factor 1 - Design Concept 

Factor 2 - Key Personnel 

Factor 3 - Management Plan 

Factor 4 - Small Business Utilization

Offerors are invited to submit a proposal in response to the Solicitation which is subject to the mandatory use of a Project Labor Agreement. As such, this solicitation includes FAR 52.222-33, Notice of Requirement for Project Labor Agreement, and an offeror must submit a fully executed PLA with its proposal. 

A detailed Program of Requirements (POR) package has been developed and will be provided in the Phase 2 solicitation package to the shortlisted firms..

A pre-proposal conference shall be held with information and logistics provided via SAM.gov at a venue to be determined later. Prior notification of attendance to this conference is mandatory.

To ensure that you receive all information regarding this solicitation, please register to receive updates at SAM.gov, follow the procedures for notification registration.

Interested Parties/How to Offer: The Solicitation will only be available electronically. It will be available on or about 25 September 2024. The solicitation can only be obtained by accessing SAM.gov, a secure website designed to safeguard sensitive but unclassified (SBU) acquisition material. Potential offerors will be responsible for downloading the solicitation and for monitoring the website for possible amendments and/or additional information. Potential offerors must register on the SAM.gov website to have access to solicitation material. For additional registration information, visit the SAM.gov website.