Located in Langley, Virginia, CIA Headquarters includes the Original Headquarters Building, the New Headquarters Building, and the Grounds. Since 1961, this secure campus has been considered “home” to thousands of dedicated women and men who work at CIA.

The CIA’s Original Headquarters Building was designed in the mid-1950s by the New York firm Harrison and Abramovitz. The designers followed the vision of former DCI Allen Dulles, who dreamed of a place where intelligence officers could work in a college campus-like atmosphere.

A portfolio of photos showing the George Bush Center for Intelligence and its environs (aka CIA headquarters), the home of The World Factbook. To view more photos of the CIA compound, visit CIA Sites to See and Explore CIA Headquarters .

The New Headquarters Building is linked to the OHB building in a seamless blend of the two structures. The main entrance to NHB is on the fourth floor. Inside the entrance, one is greeted by a huge skylight ceiling and, at the end of the entry corridor, a spectacular view of the OHB.

CIA Headquarters was renamed for President George Herbert Walker Bush on April 26, 1999, to honor his unique role in Agency history. President Bush is the only former Director of Central Intelligence to become President of the United States — in effect becoming the most important consumer of the intelligence products of the Agency he once led.

James Sanborn’s sculpture “Kryptos” begins at the entrance to the New Headquarters Building and continues in the northwest corner of the New Headquarters Building courtyard. The theme of this sculpture is “intelligence gathering.”

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As the world’s premier foreign intelligence agency, the work we do at CIA is vital to U.S. national security. We collect and analyze foreign intelligence and conduct covert action. U.S. policymakers, including the President of the United States, make policy decisions informed by the information we provide.

The Headquarters Auditorium, called the “Bubble” by Agency employees, got its nickname for its bubble- or igloo-like shape. The auditorium was part of the CIA Headquarters design in the mid-1950s.

In developing this monument, the CIA Fine Arts Commission decided on five precepts for its placement: prominence, pedestrian orientation, a sense of the wall as an obstacle, an “unromantic presentation,” and a measure of contemplation.