The Pentagon is the world’s largest office building. It is located in Arlington, Virginia, it is home to the U.S. Department of Defence. The 6.6 million square foot structure covers 34 acres and has 16 parking lots. Around 23,000 military and civilian employees work in the five-sided building; each side is 921 feet long. The 5-storeyed building has 17.5 miles of corridors. The central five-acre pentagonal plaza is nicknamed “ground zero” on the presumption that it would be a prime target in a nuclear war. The Pentagon has six postal codes; the Secretary of Defence, the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and the four service branches each have their own code.
At its completion at a cost of $83 million in January 1943, the Pentagon was the world’s largest office building, covering 29 acres (12 hectares)—including a 5-acre (2-hectare) central court—and containing roughly 3,700,000 square feet (344,000 square metres) of usable floor space for approximately 25,000 people. Plans to convert the building to a hospital or some other peacetime facility after the war were abandoned with the rapid onset of the Cold War, which required a high degree of military preparedness. The Pentagon remains one of the world’s largest office buildings.
Constructed of steel and reinforced concrete with some limestone facing, the structure has five floors, excluding its mezzanine and basement. It consists of five concentric pentagons, or “rings,” with 10 spokelike corridors connecting the whole. There are 17.5 miles (28 km) of corridors, but, because of its innovative construction, it is possible to walk between any two points within the building in approximately seven minutes. Several libraries serve as research facilities for the military, and these repositories subscribe to more than 1,700 periodicals in a wide variety of languages. Two cafeterias, a dining room, and seven snack bars are also located on the premises. There are 67 acres (27 hectares) of parking lots, which can accommodate about 8,700 automobiles. Bus and taxi terminals are located beneath a huge concourse containing a shopping centre for Pentagon employees. The Washington Metro subway also serves the facility, and a heliport was added in 1956.
In 2001, on the 60th anniversary of the Pentagon’s groundbreaking, five terrorists hijacked a commercial airliner and piloted it into the building during the September 11 attacks. Part of the southwest side of the building was destroyed, and 189 people, including the terrorists, were killed. The damage was largely repaired within a year.
Credit : Britannica
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