The John Wesley Powell Federal Building was designed by Skidmore, Owings, and Merrill of Chicago. The cost was $2.1 million for the planning, site study, and design. Architects worked with USGS scientists on designing specialized space. The seven-story main tower is an eight-pointed star oriented to the main points of the compass.
The National Center is situated on 105 acres of land, of which 50 were donated by Gulf Reston Inc., the original developers of Reston, a planned community in Northern Virginia about 22 miles west of Washington, D.C.
The ground breaking was on July 31, 1971; the cornerstone was laid in 1972; employees began occupying the building in August of 1973; and it was dedicated in 1974. The building is 1 million square feet, with over 150 labs, and can accommodate 2,500 employees.
