Government
White House Picks Clark and AECOM for $200M State Ballroom
The planned 90,000-sq-ft state ballroom would match the "theme and architectural heritage" of the existing White House, according to Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt.
Clark Construction will lead work on a $200-million project expanding the White House with a state ballroom, officials recently announced.
The project team also includes AECOM as engineer and Washington, D.C.-based McCrery Architects, according to the White House.
The 90,000-sq-ft “innately designed and carefully crafted” ballroom is planned on the site of the current White House East Wing, Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters on July 31. The ballroom would have a seated capacity of 650, up from the current 200-person capacity in the White House’s East Room. The wing, which was originally built in 1902 and received a second story in the 1940s, will be modernized as part of the project, Leavitt added.
“The White House ballroom will be substantially separated from the main building of the White House, but at the same time its theme and architectural heritage will be almost identical,” she said.
McLean, Va.-based Clark ranks No. 19 on the ENR 2025 Top 400 Contractors list. Dallas-based AECOM is No. 1 on ENR’s 2025 Top 500 Design Firms. Neither firm immediately responded to inquiries about the project.
The White House highlighted McCrery’s experience with classical architectural design. Jim McCrery, the firm’s CEO, said in a statement that their renovation design would preserve “the elegance of [the White House’s] classical design and historical importance.”
President Donald Trump and unspecified other private donors have committed to funding the project, according to Leavitt.
Staff housed in the East Wing will be temporarily relocated during construction. Leavitt said work is scheduled to start in September and is expected to be complete “long before the end of President Trump’s term.”
