Skip to main content
RETURN TO Return to WETA website Donate
Boundary Stones logo

Main navigation

  • Washington, D.C.
  • Maryland
  • Virginia
  • Video
  • About
DC

Designing America's Spy Headquarters

10/06/2015 in DC by Richard Brownell
  • Share by Facebook
  • Share by Twitter
  • Share by Email
Artist's rendering of CIA headquarters built in Langley, VA. (Source: CIA.gov)
CAs you might imagine the government went to great lengths to protect its plans during the construction of the CIA headquarters in Langley, shown here in a 1950s artist rendering. (Source: CIA.gov)

Can you imagine the world’s most powerful clandestine intelligence agency spread out across a series of ramshackle offices in and around Washington, DC? Well, that’s what constituted the Central Intelligence Agency in 1953, the year Director of Central Intelligence Allen Dulles announced a plan to build one large, secure campus that would be home to the rapidly growing spy agency.

The CIA, created by order of the National Security Act of 1947,[1] was one of America’s most active and effective tools in fighting the Cold War against the Soviet Union. Since it specialized in handling sensitive intelligence data, Dulles believed the agency needed a headquarters in an isolated location that was secure and private. Langley, Virginia turned out to be the perfect location.

Langley proved to be an attractive location because, according to the CIA’s website, “It was surrounded by parkland and government-owned property on three sides, and only a few privately owned houses on the fourth side. [Dulles] also knew that if CIA needed to expand in the future, there was plenty of room to do so.”[2]

It took three years to finalize the exact location, secure federal funding for the purchase of the land, and confirm the architectural firm that would design the building.

The contract went to New York firm Harrison & Abramovitz. Known for designing large public projects and some well-known New York skyscrapers, the firm had recently completed work on the United Nations complex and Lincoln Center in New York.[3]

Although the contract to begin the work was signed on July 5, 1956, the final blueprints for the headquarters building were not approved until March 1958. The $54 million building — about $480 million today — was designed to accommodate varying levels of security. A two-story base structure was laid out with five interconnected six-story towers rising out of it. This allowed for strict traffic control of employees throughout the building, with built-in gateways that prevented people from freely traveling from one tower to the next unless cleared by security.

The cornerstone for the CIA headquarters was laid by President Dwight D. Eisenhower on November 3, 1959. Construction was formally completed in 1963, but staffing the 1.4 million square-foot complex was fully completed by May 15, 1962.

There were serious security issues to consider during construction, and the government took great pains to make sure that plans for the building were kept secret.

In an interview with the Chicago Tribune in 1978, Max Abramovitz, partner at Harrison & Abramovitz, admitted his firm no longer had any files on the CIA project they labored over for five years. “We turned everything over to the CIA under the terms of our original agreement. The renderings, the working drawings – every scrap of paper.”[4]

According to Abramowitz, only four or five of the firm’s architects had top security clearance. The rest of the team worked on specific parts of the building without any knowledge of the purpose they would serve. They designed offices, briefing rooms, and other parts of the structure, but it was left to the architects with top security clearance to piece everything together like a puzzle.

“That wasn’t as clumsy for us as you might think,” Abramovitz said in 1978. “But [CIA] still didn’t want anybody to know about the organization of spaces or about the substructure inside.”[5]

The CIA treats the details about the construction of the building as a closely guarded secret. It was able to do this not only by seizing all the documents of the project from the firm, but by bringing in its own team to oversee the final parts of the construction.

“The CIA had its own people,” Abramovitz said, “its own draftsmen and personnel with other skills, to finish the job.”[6]

After running out of space, a second 1.1 million square-foot building was added in 1991, designed by the Detroit architectural firm Smith, Hinchman & Grylls.[7]

The CIA headquarters did not have a formal name until April 26, 1999 when it was officially renamed the George H.W. Bush Center for Intelligence, named after the 41st president, who also served as Director of Central Intelligence in 1976.

Footnotes

  1. ^ The National Security Act of 1947 was a major reorganization of the U.S. military and intelligence establishment. http://global.oup.com/us/companion.websites/9780195385168/resources/cha…
  2. ^ CIA.gov, “The CIA Campus: The Story of Original Headquarters Building.” https://www.cia.gov/news-information/featured-story-archive/2008-featur….
  3. ^ A list of the some of the projects designed by Max Abramovitz, partner at Harrison & Abramovitz is contained here: Randy Kennedy, “Max Abramovitz, 96, Architect of Avery Fisher Hall, Dies,” New York Times, Sept. 15, 2004. http://www.nytimes.com/2004/09/15/arts/max-abramovitz-96-architect-of-a…
  4. ^ Paul Gapp, “Hello CIA? I’d like to critique your headquarters, please.” Chicago Tribune, Feb 12, 1978. http://archives.chicagotribune.com/1978/02/12/page/212/article/hello-ci…
  5. ^ Gapp, ibid.
  6. ^ Gapp, ibid.
  7. ^ Factbook on Government Intelligence, DIANE Publishing Company, 1995, p. 24.

 

Last Updated:
12/14/2020

About the Author

Richard Brownell is the author of numerous books for young audiences on historical and cultural topics. He also writes political commentary and has had his stage plays produced in several cities around the country. He currently resides in New York City, but his home is wherever history has been made. Richard has been an avid reader, researcher, and writer of American history much of his life, and he is always sure to soak up historical sites and stories wherever his travels take him.

More posts by Richard Brownell »
Tags
CIA
Espionage
1950s

Share

  • Share by Facebook
  • Share by Twitter
  • Share by Email

You Might Also Like

  • Secrets in the Forest: A Virginia Summer Camp Becomes a Playground for Spies

    Secrets in the Forest: A Virginia Summer Camp Becomes a Playground for Spies

    Your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to begin your training as a World War II spy in the forests of Prince William County, Virginia.

  • The Pentagon Goes Up in Flames, 1959

    The Pentagon Goes Up in Flames, 1959

    On July 2, 1959, a fire burned an Air Force services office at the Pentagon to a crisp. It was the biggest fire incident in the building until 9/11.

  • Alexandria's Earl Lloyd Breaks Basketball's Color Line

    Alexandria's Earl Lloyd Breaks Basketball's Color Line

    Alexandria's Earl Lloyd was a rising basketball star in the late 1940s, but he had no idea he would become an important part of sports history.

Surprise Me!

Not sure where to start reading? Let us pick a story for you!

Categories

  • DC (576)
  • Maryland (108)
  • Virginia (150)

Latest Posts

The Bizarre Adolescence of the Washington Monument

06/08/2023

The Bizarre Adolescence of the Washington Monument

This House, Undivided: Sarah Tracy’s Mount Vernon During the Civil War

06/02/2023

This House, Undivided: Sarah Tracy’s Mount Vernon During the Civil War

The Sordid Story of Dupont Circle's Underground Tunnels

05/26/2023

The Sordid Story of Dupont Circle's Underground Tunnels

Most Popular

The Bizarre Adolescence of the Washington Monument

06/08/2023

The Bizarre Adolescence of the Washington Monument

This House, Undivided: Sarah Tracy’s Mount Vernon During the Civil War

06/02/2023

This House, Undivided: Sarah Tracy’s Mount Vernon During the Civil War

The World Cup is in Brazil, but the Bossa Nova Craze Started in DC

06/11/2014

The World Cup is in Brazil, but the Bossa Nova Craze Started in DC

Tags

1860s1870s1890s1900s1910s1920s1930s1940s1950s1960s1970s1980s1990sAlexandriaArlingtonArtBlack HistoryBygone DCCivil WarGeorgetownSports HistoryWhite HouseWomen's HistoryWorld War IWorld War II
More
Historical D.C. Metro Map
Tweets by BoundaryStones
WETA

Footer menu

  • Support WETA
  • About WETA
  • Press Room
  • Contact Us
  • Newsletter
  • RSS
  • Accessibility

Contact Us

  • 3939 Campbell Avenue
    Arlington, VA 22206 | Map
  • 703-998-2600
  • boundarystones@weta.org

Connect with us

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • YouTube

About Boundary Stones

Boundary Stones explores local history in Washington, D.C., suburban Maryland and northern Virginia. This project is a service of WETA and is supported by contributions from readers like you.

DONATE

Copyright © 2023 WETA. All Rights Reserved.

Bottom Footer

  • Terms
  • Privacy
  • Guidelines