Howard Hughes Medical Institute Expansion

Capron Company was recently awarded the building control system contract for the Howard Hughes Medical Institute expansion project. HHMI, the nation's largest biomedical research institute, will expand its Chevy Chase (Montgomery County, MD) headquarters with a two-story, 75,000-square-foot building where it can consolidate its administrative offices. The expansion will add up to 100 jobs to the payroll while preserving a historic manor in the process. The controls contract includes an upgrade of the existing campus-wide control system along with extensive integration with several mechanical and electrical systems.

HHMI acquired two parcels totaling about 13 acres of land adjacent to its original 23-acre campus. One of the parcels includes the historic Hayes Manor, which was built between 1762 and 1767, and is one of the oldest and best- preserved Georgian manors in the region. The institute plans to make improvements to the structure, which will likely be used for small meetings and gatherings, and will be made available to the Historic Preservation Commission for its meetings. In addition to the new building, the expansion would include a new underground parking garage.

With an endowment of $10.3 billion, the institute invests more than $440 million annually in biomedical research and employs more than 300 scientists in 70 universities and research centers nationwide.