According to company officials, this will be a state-of-the-art 500,000-sf headquarters building. According to Discovery spokeswoman Pat Lute, the new site, which will consolidate activities of almost 2,000 corporate employees at six separate buildings in Bethesda, MD, should be finished winter 2002 or early 2003. Corporate employees are now housed in six rental properties -- Bethesda Place, Newlands Building, Crescent Building and three separate addresses at East West Towers on the Old Georgetown Road and Wisconsin Avenue.

"The site is Downtown in Silver Springs," says Lute. "The building is L-shaped with a nine-story wing on one side and six-story wing on the other. The lower wing is going to support a 350-foot tower. The tower will incorporate a curved spire reflecting the curvature of the earth and will rise above the skyline to serve as a beacon marking the center of downtown Silver Springs."

Maximizing the Discovery experience, Lute says the six-story wing will also feature a large roof garden. Two more gardens, a one-acre area public garden and another for Discovery Communications' private use, are incorporated into the design.