Naval Air Station Patuxent River – Hangar 110

Hangar 110 is located in the heart of the Patuxent River Naval Air Station and was one of the first structures built at the base. It was built in 1942 with a new and relatively unproven type of construction. The innovative ZD-type concrete hangar was a poured-in-place, thin-shell concrete construction system poured over massive forms that were moved on rails. It was one of the largest such structures built in the United States up to that point and is eligible for listing in the National Register of Historic Places.

The complex consists of two aircraft hangar bays flanked by offices and shops that support the Navy’s test pilot school. Still an active naval facility, the Hangar now serves to house an aeronautical menagerie of glider, propeller-driven and jet-powered aircraft of both fixed and rotary wing types. However, the most interesting part of its history are the graduates of the school that include illustrious alumni with “The Right Stuff”: Alan Shepard, John Glenn, and Walter Shirra among others.

MWAP worked as part of a Design Build Team to “modernize” the historic structure for both functionality and with an eye to improving staff workspaces. Among some of the tasks involved were the reconstruction of the roadside lean-to façade with new historically-correct fenestration that also meets current antiterrorism/force protection requirements; roof replacement; renovations of the interiors of the shops and offices; renovation of the hangar interiors to include new flooring, overhead heating, lighting and fire protection systems; and, most significantly, retrofitting a new trenched foam fire protection system for the high-value aircraft housed within.