James V. Forrestal Building

James V. Forrestal Building
James V. Forrestal Building in 2006.
Alternative names	United States Department of Energy Headquarters
General information
Type	Government office building
Architectural style	Brutalist
Address	1000 Independence Avenue SW, Washington, D.C.
Coordinates	38°53′13″N 77°01′34″W / 38.887024°N 77.025987°W / 38.887024; -77.025987
Construction started	September 1965
Completed	November 18, 1969
Design and construction
Architecture firm	Curtis & Davis; Fordyce and Hamby Associates; Frank Grad & Sons
Website
Energy.gov

The James V. Forrestal Building is a low-rise Brutalist office building located in Washington, D.C., in the United States. Originally known as Federal Office Building 5, and nicknamed the Little Pentagon, the Forrestal Building was constructed between 1965 and 1969 to accommodate United States armed forces personnel. It is named after James Forrestal, the first United States Secretary of Defense. It became the headquarters of the United States Department of Energy after that agency's creation in 1977.

The 1,688,484-square-foot (156,865.3 m²) Forrestal Building is located at 1000 Independence Avenue SW. It consists of three structures: an East Building with eight floors above ground, the North Building with four floors above ground, and a West Building with two floors above ground. All three structures are connected by two floors of underground office space. In order to provide access to L'Enfant Plaza, the North Building is raised up on 35-foot-high (11 m) pilotis (or columns).

The area of Southwestern Washington, D.C., where the Forrestal Building is located was originally laid out in a grid pattern as specified by the L'Enfant Plan of 1791. By the early 1900s, Victorian-style rowhouses lined the south side of B Street SW (later renamed Independence Avenue SW). In 1901, the Senate Park Commission proposed a plan for the development of the monumental core and parks of the District of Columbia. The plan called for federal office buildings and museums to line the north and south sides of the National Mall. But little development of the area occurred.