The National Weather Service Office continued the high-tech look of the buildings on campus. The interior was designed to embody an atmospheric approach to weather that incorporated NOAA’s branding. The color palette is neutral; featuring grays, wood tones, and accents of blue. Design elements in the space were chosen to continue the high-tech look of the exterior. Key elements include RGB color-changing lighting and metal mesh ceilings. The exterior veneer is a combination of rich brick colors, ribbon windows, and metal panels. The dark orange brick portrays a solid connection to the ground, while the dark brown bricks highlight the vertical circulation. The dark charcoal color of the window mullions enhances the richness, matching the iron spots in the brick veneer. The bullet-resistant glass stretches in a ribbon-fashion around the perimeter, opening up fantastic views. Silver sunshades on the exterior of the windows reduce the glare from the abundance of light reaching deep into interior spaces. The metal panels were used to break up the vertical form, while also being used to highlight special façade elements. A horizontal, corrugated metal panel runs continuously around the perimeter of the building above the second-story windows. The charcoal color matches the window mullions and sets off the deep roof overhang constructed of smooth, silver metal panels. This smooth metal panel was also used to create an overhang feature on top of the front stair tower. The largest area of smooth silver metal panel projects from the building on the first floor, housing Science on a Sphere, while leading you to the main entrance.

The first floor of the building is approximately 11,500 SF, of which 7,750 SF is the home of the National Weather Service. Science on a Sphere occupies 1,025 SF of space, with a 1,200 SF warehouse on the end. The 10,500 SF second floor was constructed as speculative office space for a future tenant or tenants. The National Weather Service relocated their staff of 24 from an older building in the Corridor-G area to Building 754. Off the reception area to the left are the main offices of the executive staff, and to the right are conference and support rooms leading to the large Operations Room, which is monitored 24-hours a day by three shifts. Probably the most important space in the building is the Equipment Room, which houses the technology equipment that reads data from towers and satellite dishes on the building’s exterior. Science on a Sphere is a room-sized, global display system that uses computers and video projectors to display planetary data onto a six-foot-diameter giant animated globe. It was developed as an educational tool to help illustrate Earth science to people of all ages in a way that is simultaneously intuitive and captivating.