National Science Foundation New Ice Core Facility

Located at the Denver Federal Center, this facility supports the preservation and research of meteoric ice cores from U.S. Arctic and Antarctic ice drilling operations. Due to the nature of how the ice cores are collected as well as the time frame in which they were collected, these ice cores are irreplaceable. Proper storage of these ice cores requires temperatures far below typical refrigeration systems to maintain their integrity for ongoing research. This project replaces the previous ICF building five independent structures: refrigerated warehouse spaces, refrigeration equipment space, shop/storage spaces, office and support spaces, and loading/shipping spaces.

Critical infrastructure design includes fire protection with a unique clean agent system, and an extreme level of stand-by power and redundancy since the facility must always remain operational. In addition, a specialty designer identified by IMEG will provide a transcritical CO2 refrigeration system, an environmentally friendly technology that uses CO2 as the refrigerant.

This project was designed with strict environmental and operational standards, including compliance with Davis-Bacon requirements. Willmeng’s work enables the continued preservation of over two miles of ice cores, supporting critical climate research for decades to come.