Walter Reed Building 7

2026-2027 Academic Year Opening Status: Construction is active at Building 7, with site, structural, preservation, and interior phases advancing through a multi-year schedule.

A Historic Building with a New Research Mission

Building 7 was constructed in 1910 as the main barracks for the Hospital Corps and Field Hospital Company at Walter Reed. The substantial brick building originally housed approximately 200 soldiers and shares the Colonial and Georgian Revival character established across the historic medical campus. Its current renewal pairs preservation of that architectural legacy with a new role in Howard's research enterprise.

Building Capacity for Research and Collaboration

Building 7 will support Howard's Research Institute for Tactical Autonomy, known as RITA. Howard leads the first University Affiliated Research Center funded by the U.S. Air Force, bringing together faculty, staff, students, and researchers from nine collaborating universities. The institute advances work in trustworthy artificial intelligence, collaboration among autonomous platforms, and human-machine teaming.

The project began with mobilization and enabling activity in 2026. Current work is moving through site and structural activity, restoration of the historic exterior, and later interior fit-out. The present schedule carries the project through 2028, with final completion currently targeted for spring of that year.

The result will give a century-old building a renewed public presence and a forward-looking purpose: preserving an important piece of Washington's medical and military history while creating an institutional home for interdisciplinary research.

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View capital projects in progress

Schedule information reflects current targets as of the opening of the 2026-2027 academic year and may change as work progresses.