The David E. Skaggs Research Center is 372,000-square-foot (34,600 m2) research and office facility for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). Located in Boulder, CO, it was identified by the General Services Administration (GSA) as a prototype for new federal architecture and featured in Architecture magazine. The building includes 698 offices, 20 conference rooms, 98 laboratories and three major computer centers, and has been designed by Fentress Architects.
Named for U.S. Rep. David Skaggs who represented Colorado's 2nd Congressional District from 1987-99, the Skaggs Research Center was constructed at the base of the Flatirons rock formation* in Boulder, Colorado on land already owned by the U.S. Department of Commerce (DOC). In 1989, Congressman Skaggs worked to pass an appropriation for the new facility and over the next six years helped NOAA negotiate key issues with the City of Boulder and Indian tribes as the project went forward.
The project was initiated in 1987, when the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration asked the General Services Administration to consolidate NOAA Boulder and Denver research laboratories, operational centers and offices into one facility. NOAA's divisions along the Front Range were then housed in obsolete and inadequate leased space in multiple locations, including the Weather Forecast Office located near the old airport in Denver.
The DSRC is home to research organizations including: NOAA's Earth System Research Laboratory, National Climatic Data Center - Paleoclimatology, National Geophysical Data Center, National Snow and Ice Data Center, National Weather Service - Space Weather Prediction Center and NOAA Research Joint Institutes: Cooperative Institute for Research in the Atmosphere and Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences.