Building 93 at ARDEC, the U.S. Army’s Armament Research, Development and Engineering Center at Picatinny Arsenal in Morris County, NJ, has all of its old aluminum windows replaced by AAWD Inc. thru a competitive interview process. AAWD replaced 235 Heavy Commercial Aluminum Windows are fitted with special privacy glass coatings. All crew members undergo thorough background checks before working on the site. Throughout the refurbishment the building continued to function fully with military personnel.

Picatinny Arsenal Building Overview

Picatinny Arsenal Building Challenge: Re-engineering a high-security, fully operational Army facility

Picatinny Arsenal, established in 1880 as the Picatinny Powder Depot, today encompasses 6,400 acres in Morris County, NJ. Building 93 is situated within ARDEC — the Armament Research, Development and Engineering Center, which the Army calls its “Center of Lethality” for delivering over 90 percent of the Army’s lethal armaments and munitions to U.S. warfighters. ARDEC also invented the Picatinny rail, and is the Army’s lead center of expertise on small guns cartridge ammunition.
A window replacement at a building like this is not your typical business setup. “Building 93 had to stay fully functioning with military staff on site during the building work. “As the location was sensitive, at times top secret, all elements of the work from admission onto the base to the removal of existing windows required a controlled, systematic approach.” AAWD was selected out of a number of companies after a thorough selection process.

The AAWD Solution for Picatinny Arsenal Building

1. Security Clearances for Crew
But before any work could begin, each of the AAWD employes assigned to the site was subject to a thorough background check, a requirement for working inside a high-security Army research and development facility, and one that AAWD handled for its entire installation crew.

2. Site Protocols — Controlled, Systematic
Due to the delicate and often classified nature of some of the facilities within ARDEC, AAWD followed a regulated process at each stage – from entering the base to physically removing the existing aluminum windows – to suit the facility’s security needs without interrupting operations.

3. Heavy Duty Commercial Aluminum Fixed Window 235
AAWD removed all existing aluminum windows throughout the ARDEC building and replaced them with 235 Heavy Commercial Aluminum Fixed windows — a fixed (non-operable) commercial-grade window system that is suited to a secure research facility where controlled access and durability take priority over standard operable functionality.

4. Specialty Privacy Glass Coatings
Since ARDEC does critical research and development work, AAWD chose specialist glass coatings for privacy on all replacement windows – balancing natural light and building performance against the facility’s security needs.

5. Fully Operational During Construction
Building 93 was occupied and in full use over the whole course of the project, with military personnel on site working. With the size and sensitivity of the project, AAWD had to apply the same occupied-space discipline that we use to multifamily and senior home restorations, but tailor it to a sensitive government building.

Why This Project Matters to Government & Secure-Facility Decision Makers

The ARDEC Building 93 is a great example of AAWD’s ability to operate within the constraints that set government and secure-facility work apart from other commercial or multifamily projects: personnel vetting, controlled access to the site, sensitivity to classified or restricted areas and zero tolerance for disruption to operations. For procurement officers and facilities managers considering a contractor for a secure government site, the relevant proof point is not merely window quality, but whether a contractor can pass a competitive selection process, manage background-checked staffing, and execute cleanly inside a fully operational, high-security environment.