Design For The Mission

At Dekker, we take a “mission-first” approach to our Federal Government and Secure Facility design. From planning and programming through construction, our team is focused on a strategic, efficient, and adaptable approach. We design spaces that are functional, sustainable, and forward-thinking, meeting mission requirements while supporting long-term operational success.

Our team of architects, designers, and engineers is committed to understanding and honoring the mission, delivering highly technical designs with an emphasis on user wellbeing and sustainability.

Guiding early planning and feasibility efforts

Effective government design begins with understanding the client’s mission and the users’ needs. The more that’s invested in planning a project or assessing feasibility, the more efficient and successful the design and construction process later.

With our team’s breadth of experience working with different government agencies, we have a deep knowledge of funding sources and compliance criteria. We guide clients through feasibility studies that can be leveraged to obtain funding or even give a starting point for what’s possible on a given site.

As an interdisciplinary firm, our studio works collaboratively with experts in sustainability, lab design, and workplace wellness who are experienced in working on complex secure facilities. Our structural engineering, interior design, planning, and landscape architecture teams are in-house, reducing the coordination of subcontractors and controlling the flow of information. Our joint venture with MEP engineers Bridgers & Paxton and civil engineers Bohannan Huston add to the efficient collaboration.

Compliant design for Secure Facilities

Sensitive Compartmented Information Facilities (SCIFs) play a critical role in national security by preventing unauthorized access to sensitive information. These highly technical spaces require specific design strategies and careful coordination of MEP engineering.

Our Federal Government studio is well-versed in construction and security standards for SCIFs, ensuring full compliance with these regulations. Beyond physical security, our SCIF designs are adaptable to evolving mission requirements, and designed for easy inspection to ensure ongoing performance and security compliance.

Our team specializes in fixed SCIFs—permanently integrated within buildings for enhanced force protection. These “buildings within a building” create highly controlled environments resistant to electronic, physical, and visual intrusion. Over the past eight years, we have been involved in more than 50 SCIF project designs ranging between ground up design, modifications to, and expansions of SCIF facilities.

Benjamin Gardner: Managing Principal, Federal Government Studio

Benjamin Gardner leads the Federal Government studio at Dekker as Managing Principal. Here is what he has to say about Federal Government design at Dekker:

"I approach the start of every conversation and project with one question: How can we help support this mission? I am constantly in awe of the important national defense work being developed right here in our communities. There is tremendous opportunity in both the national labs, as well as private companies that are moving the needle forward on space technology, quantum, fusion, and other mission-critical technologies.

Through my involvement in organizations like PACA and the MaxQ development on Kirtland Airforce Base, I have had the privilege of getting to better understand some of the challenges – and opportunities – in public-private partnerships. My goal is to connect the people that do mission-critical work, much of which is secure, with essential services that can help them tell their stories and advance their mission.

The government studio’s biggest strength is that we have a collection of people who have been working on designing secure spaces for a very long time, and love what they do. Our balance of highly specific expertise and collaborative workflow allows us to develop more efficient ways to design highly complex spaces.

I am excited for the future of our studio, and the opportunity to continue to serve as a trusted advisor for our existing clients, and new clients."