NIST Fire Safety Lab

Location: Gaithersburg, Maryland
Client: National Institute for Standards and Technology (NIST)
Area: 20,000 SF
Completion: 2013

Tasked to design a laboratory dedicated to understanding fire behavior and the structural response to fire, Colimore Architects designed a structural wall strong enough to simulate gravity loads and lateral forces during fire testing. The laboratory is the only facility in America capable of performing fire testing under applied structural loads As part of the 20,000 SF high-bay addition, a 45 ft by 50 ft steel exhaust hood was designed to test fire on two-story structures.