Proposal for White House Visitor Screening Facility Unveiled

Concept plans for the White House Visitor Screening Facility have been filed with the National Capital Planning Commission (NCPC), which is expected to review the plans next month, when it is also expected to approve the ballroom that was delayed by commentary against its construction at last month's NCPC meeting. A proposal for a permanent facility for security screenings is not unexpected, given that it was mentioned by Shalom Baranes, the ballroom architect, at an NCPC meeting in January. Any haste can be attributed to Trump and others at the White House not wanting dignitaries and other VIPs attending events at the future ballroom needing to wade through the temporary tents and other setups that are currently in place for security.

As can be seen in the above rendering, the White House Visitor Screening Facility would be located southeast of the White House, directly south of the Treasury Building, below Sherman Park, a small green space occupied by a statue of Alexander Hamilton. An entrance off the street south of the park would lead to the 33,000-square-foot underground facility. The interior spaces would be located approximately 17 feet below grade, with 12-foot ceilings, 2 feet for structure, and 3 feet of earth for plantings. Visitors would move through the security screenings and then ascend escalators back to street level to the northwest, between the Treasury Building and future ballroom.

Unlike the ballroom, which is considerably larger than the executive mansion at the White House, the White House Visitor Screening Facility is diminutive and basically hidden, with just the entrance and one-story exit structure visible. In this approach, the concept design recalls the United States Capitol Visitor Center, which was designed by RTKL Associates (now part of Arcadis) and opened in 2008. 

Planning documents submitted to NCPC indicate the design team for the White House Visitor Screening Facility is made up of AECOM and Thornton Tomasetti.