Embassy Planning Annex

TheU.S. State Department has announced aproject toconstruct anannexed office building onthe compound ofthe embassy inMoscow, theembassy announced Monday.

Theseven-story office building will be sited adjacent tothe current eight-story Chancery building atthe "new" embassy compound near theso-called Russian White House.

Thefirst two floors ofthe building will provide consular andvisa services forRussian citizens wishing totravel tothe United States andservices forthe growing number ofAmerican visitors andexpatriates living inRussia.

Theupper floors ofthe new annex will provide office space foragencies working with theRussian government such as theNational Aeronautics andSpace Administration, theCenters forDisease Control, theForeign Commercial Service andthe Foreign Agricultural Service.

Thenew annex was designed tomeet Leadership inEnergy andEnvironmental Design certification standards.The State Department engaged thearchitectural firm ofHOK (formerly Hellmuth, Obata & Kassabaum) todesign theannex.That firm engaged theRussian architectural firm ofA. R. Vorontsov toparticipate inthis project.

HOK was also selected in2009 todesign aMandarin Oriental Hotel ina historical building onTverskaya Ulitsa, theUnikor development company reported onits website.

Groundbreaking forthe new embassy annex is scheduled forthe summer of2012, andribbon cutting is projected for2015.

Theconstruction ofthe new annex will complete aprogram ofdiplomatic construction inWashington, D.C. andMoscow as envisioned inagreements signed in1969 andamended in1992.

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Embassy Planning Annex