Clark Construction received a contract worth $200 million to design and build a new state ballroom at the White House. This is one of the most important additions to the presidential compound in decades.  

According to Engineering News-Record, the ballroom will be built on the south side of the available East Wing and will be a contemporary multi-use area for hosting state dinners, big press events with many speakers, or live performances. 

The architectural and engineering firm AECOM will be on board with Clark for the project, for which mechanical construction is expected to kick off next September. 

A White House press release stated that the ballroom will include numerous safety features, the best acoustics ever found in a White House ballroom, flexible seating arrangements, and improved communication features with more space to accommodate live-stream events. 

According to The Washington Post, President Donald Trump's administration sees the project as both a functional asset and a symbolic commitment to the capital, expanding the White House's ability to hold higher-profile gatherings.  Clark Construction is no newcomer to high-profile federal projects. As previously reported by Contractor News, it is a part of the Baltimore Amtrak tunnel modernization and recently won a half-billion-dollar contract for a cybersecurity headquarters.

The major media houses, including ABC7NY and MSN News, have reported that construction will be phased to minimize disruption to White House operations, with a completion goal of late 2027. The project designers emphasized the historical sensitivity of the construction, observing that they will select materials and finishes that are suitable and in harmony with the neoclassical style of the White House, yet maintain the highest contemporary standards of performance. 

They will be employing structural and aesthetic components that are conceived in consultation with preservation specialists to make sure that the addition is in keeping with the historic character of the structure.

The Ballroom will not only be designed for ceremonial purposes but will also have the flexibility of being used for emergency operations in times of national disasters. This will introduce a growing trend among federal government construction projects to provide spaces that are designed to be transitionable to different uses if necessary, while still maintaining their primary use. 

Various representatives from the White House have also announced that the ballroom will have high-energy efficiency systems, which will serve to help maintain construction consistent with federal sustainability goals. Use of advanced building technologies is expected to decrease the operating cost of the facility throughout its life cycle.