00_Table of Contents 01_Project Information 02_Climate & Energy 03_Structural System 04_Building Layout 05_Conclusions
01_Project Summary
Since the construction of the original facility in 1989, the border crossing at Columbus, New Mexico, has seen a steady increase in traffic. This has resulted in the Land Port of Entry at the U.S. Mexico border to constantly grow and evolve over time. The latest iteration, designed by Richter Architects, accounts for this daily growth in traffic, as well as the needs of the buildings occupants. The Columbus Land Port of Entry is unlike any other border cossing facility in the U.S. It is designed to be a welcoming space and one that doesn’t stress its users. Located three miles from Columbus, NM, and right next to the city of Puerto Palomas in Mexico, the building bridges the two distinct communities together. Every day, 800 school children cross the border daily to attend school. This building eases the threshold transition (rural/ urban and national borders) for the children, creating safe passages through the constant movement of cars and trucks through the site. The contextual inspiration for the building is the surrounding landscape. The architects used colors and materials from local sites so that the building didn’t jut out of the landscape. The weathered steel and CMU brick facade follows the colors of the different soils in the site. The design of the building takes inspiration from the untouched landscape, and the landscaping of the building creates different ecosystems to foster plant and animal life. The site design building tells “the story of the scarcity, the power, and the harvest of water in the desert.”
Project Design Team
Other Work by Richter Architects
Del Mar College of Music
The Team Richter Architects is a holistic building design firm that focuses on building design, master planning, interior design, and more. The firm is recognized within the community for having good design development and excellent relationships with clients. Firm Principals - David Richter, FAIA - Elizabeth Chu Richter, FAIA - Stephen Cox, AIA - Samuel Morris, AIA
Awards - 2020 COTE Top Ten Award - Texas Society of Architects’ Design Award (2011, 2020) - Numerous AIA design Awards - in “100 Architects of the Year” in 2018 by KIA - Elizabeth Chu Richter served as AIA President in 2015 Project Team - Civil Engineer: JQ Infrastructure, LLC - Commissioning: Commissioning Concepts - Construction: Studio Collaboration - Cost Consultant: Project Cost Resources - Fire Protection: Jensen Hughes - General Contracting: Hensel Phelps Construction - Landscape Architect: MRWM Landscape Architects - MEP Engineer: IMEG Corp. - Security Consultant: BLW/IMEG Corp. - Structural Engineer: Walter P. Moore
Harte Research Institute
Museum of the Pacific War
Tres Hermanos Mountains Columbus, NM United States
Hardscape Softscape Building Canopies
Chihuahuan Desert
Automobiles Pedestrians Semi-Trucks
Puerto Palomas Mexico
02_Climate & Energy
Summer Shadows Includes sun shading at 8am, 10am, 12pm, 2pm, and 4pm on the summer solstice.
Winter Shadows Includes sun shading at 8am, 10am, 12pm, 2pm, and 4pm on the winter solstice.
Energy Use Performance The area experiences a very arid climate as well as a low amount of precipitation (11 inches of rain over 43 days). However, the site captures 100% of that rainwater and uses it to meet 91% of its irrigation needs. As the area is completely empty (quiet), the site receives a lot of direct sunshine. Daily temperatures are high, while humidity levels are low. The site itself is in the middle of a desert so there are no obstacles for wind or sun. The building could employ internal sun shading, internal gains, evaporative cooling, as well as thermal masses for both heating and cooling. While the building does incorporate all of these but evaporative cooling, more than a quarter of the year demands active systems.
Materials Weathered Steel The steel used throughout the building facade is reused from previous buildings. This material was chosen to mimic the soil in the site, which allows the building to blend in with the surrounding environment. CMU Bricks The CMU bricks mimic the various colors of the sand found throughout the site. Additionally, the bricks serve as a thermal mass, trapping the heat from the sun, and releasing the heat during night.
Additional Strategies The architects employed numerous passive strategies to support the building in the harsh, arid climate that it is built in. Since the harsh sun was a major issue, the South side has very little glazing. The majority of this side is covered by CMU bricks, which absorb most of the heat from the sun. The East side is mostly covered except for a few windows that are louvered. On the North side of the building, there is a large space for truck inspection, which blocks a lot of light. For this reason, large windows couldn’t be places to bring in the North light. Although there is very little glazing on the North and East walls, large roof monitors face the North and East side, bringing light deep into the space and heat from the direct sunlight. Large windows exist on the West side, but these are louvered as well.
Energy Use Performance As there was no information available on the building’s solar panels, these predictions do not include their contributions. The architect predicts the total site (which includes a number of other public facilities and customs checkpoints) EUI to be 142 with a net of 95 meaning the solar array likely produces ~50 kBtu/sf/yr. While 95 may seem large, the site is vast and operates 24/7/365 in an unfavorable climate. The architect claims the site’s EUI to be a 45% reductionfrom the national average. The remaining power is sourced from Columbus’ electric grid. The site collects rainwater as well. Unfortunately, the rainfall through the year is very low, so it sources a majority of the potable water from the city as well. The building’s sewage is treated on site and put towards irrigation.
Glazing/Mass Relationship South:
East
North:
West:
Window: 810 sf Wall: 4047 sf WWR: 20%
Window: 325 sf Wall: 3249 sf WWR: 10%
Window: 1092 sf Wall: 3767 sf WWR: 29%
Window: 1136 sf Wall: 2439 sf WWR: 47%
01 | Photovoltaic Array The building produces a large amount of its energy use through the PV panels on the roof. These panels also help shade the roof monitors to prevent harsh afternoon light from entering and overheating the space.
02 | Roof Monitors The roof monitors allow passive northern light in throughout the day. They also open to the east to allow the morning sunlight to help warm the building. Further, they capture the rainwater that hits the building and direct it to the site’s landscaping
03 | Internal Gains The main passive system is direct solar heating. The building relies on the morning sunlight to warm the interior and then holds this heat throughout the day. The building also receives a large amount of foot traffic throughout the day that helps to warm the affected spaces.
04 | Louvers The architects also reduced the E/W glazing. This prevents unnecessary heat gain in the morning and evenings. For the little glazing on the east and west faces, there are louvers to block the direct light. This system works with the primary form of the building.
05 | CMU Thermal Mass The CMU walls, which are at times exposed on the building interior act a thermal mass for the building. They retain heat during the day, which helps keep the indoor temperature stable. They are then cooled over night and prevent too much morning gain.
06 | Variable Refrigerant HVAC The varying occupancies facilitate the building lead to a need for dynamic heating and cooling. The climate also demands a responsive system. The main plant is located outside the building and sends air to 4 heating/cooling units that manage their respective zones.
03_Structural System
G
F
E
D
C
B
Digital Structural Model
A
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
Physical Structural Model The Columbus Land Port of Entry uses a steel frame structure to transfer gravity loads and to resist lateral loads. The CMU walls resist some shear forces, but most of the walls are only supported by the steel frame. In the hierarchy of load transfer, the roof monitor frame sits on the beams/girders, which then sit on the columns. For the foundation, all the columns sit on footings that are set in the ground. The base of the building is achieved through a concrete slab on grade.
HSS 4x6
HSS 4x4 HSS 14x14
HSS 10x10 W 24x117
HSS 14x14
30
’-0
Structural Module
”
”
3
0 0’-
Exploded Module
04_Building Layout
Warehouse
Cargo Customs
Cargo Customs
Employee Gymnasium Storage Pedestrian Customs (Lobby)
Customs Offices
Break Room
Employee Training
Men’s Employee Restroom Women’s Employee Restroom Testing Laboratory
Border Patrol Offices 0
10
First (only) N Floor Plan 20
40
60
Border Patrol Offices
Employee Restroom
Storage
Pedestrian Customs
Customs Offices
(Lobby)
W 0
Warehouse
8
Longitudinal Section 16
S 0
48
Transverse Section
Pedestrian Customs (Lobby)
32
8
16
32
48
Cargo Customs Offices
Cargo Customs
Warehouse
Offices
Employee Spaces
Offices
Pedestrian Customs
Building Program Lighter zones are more public.
Building Circulation There are 3 main types of occupants that would use the facility: pedestrians, employees, and cargo transporters. Pedestrians only access a small corner of the building, the lobby, as they move through the customs process. Then, they are quickly sent back outside to the sidewalks. Similarly, cargo transporters only pull into the cargo bay for their goods to be checked. Most of them will never even enter the building’s interior. Employees occupy most of the buildings square footage. All of their needs are accessed off of one main corridor through the buildings core. As only pedestrians enter through the main doors, there is no specific lobby, though the pedestrian lobby serves as a reasonable reception. The building is only one story so there is no vertical circulation.
Building Egress The building’s egress is very simple. Almost all of the program is tied to one hallway which has multiple exits out towards the cargo bay. Then, there is one exit at the back of the employee quarters and two in the pedestrian customs area. This yields 4 exit discharges around the building. Most of the egress only serves a small population of employees as the two lobby exits would move most of the occupants. As the building is one story, there is no vertical circulation. The building’s circulation is not particularly memorable but the egress system is tied into the main circulation.
Building Ventilation The primary active system being employed in the building is a multi-zone variable refrigerant HVAC. This is a completely air based system. There is one primary outdoor unit that pushes air to smaller evaporator units in four different zones in the building. The system can simultaneously heat and cool separate zones in the building. Air is transferred horizontally through structurally-integrated ducts. Like the structure, the mechanical systems are largely exposed. This is partially because the building’s skeleton is a major part of the interior experience. The building is also designed to be easily retrofitted to prolong its life.
05_Conclusions As a border patrol building, it exceeds expectations. Environmentally and climatically, it succeeds on a number of levels and achieves LEED certification among other awards. The building successfully integrates with the site by taking into account the nearby mountains and pigmentation of the local soil. It was also landscaped to take into account local ecologies and diverts water to the local watershed without needing irrigation of its own. The clever solar panel-clad bi-axis sawtooth roof system in combination with effectively implemented louvers allows the building to be almost entirely daylit while simultaneously maximizing internal heat gain during cold parts of the year. Further, fenestration is largely omitted from the east and west while the CMU walls act as a thermal mass. All of these systems (and others ) together yield a building that effectively manages its place and climate as well as could be expected and leaves very few areas open to questioning. The building is situated between the American town of Columbus and the Mexican town of Puerto Palomas. The site is a major border crossing into the United States. Every day, trucks carry agricultural goods across the border. There are various truck docks and vehicle inspection areas located around the building. The building also has to account for the 800 children that cross the border to attend the school everyday. For this reason, the site is highly pedestrian friendly and has large covered walkways leading to and away from the building. The building also has to provide adequate facilities for the border patrol agents to comfortably operate the building 24/7. Given the complexity and diversity of the circulating parties at play, the building adequately accounts for more needs than one would expect from a border crossing facility. The building has a very intuitive structural design. The majority of the structure consists of a simple orthogonal beam and columns setup with 30’ modules. The roof monitors, which constitute the complex part of the structural system were all prefabricated and transported to the site. All the steel members are made of recycled steel or have been reused from previous projects. Once the building has reached the end of its useful life, the members can be recycled and reused for other projects. The primary cladding elements for the building (bricks and CMU blocks) were manufactured less than 500 miles from the site. The building does an excellent job considering the structural constraints when it comes to the rural site location, but it still does an excellent job with responding to site and environmental conditions to create a comfortable and sustainable building.
Works Cited architectmagazine.com. Accessed December 3, 2020. https://www.architectmagazine. com/project-gallery/u-s-land-port-of-entry-columbus-n-m_o. “Columbus Land Port of Entry.” MRWM Landscape Architects. Accessed December 3, 2020. https://www.mrwmla.com/columbus-land-port-of-entry. “Columbus US Land Port of Entry Expansion.” SITES. Accessed December 3, 2020. http:// www.sustainablesites.org/columbus-us-land-port-entry-expansion. “Fuego™: Weathered Steel.” MG McGrath Inc Sheet Metal. Accessed December 3, 2020. https:// mgmcgrath.com/portfolio/fuego-weathered-steel/. Holmes, Damian. “U.S. Land Port of Entry, Columbus, New Mexico: MRWM Landscape Architects.” World Landscape Architecture, July 25, 2020. https:// worldlandscapearchitect.com/u-s-land-port-of-entry-columbus-new-mexico mrwm-landscape-architects/. “Home.” Richter Architects. Accessed December 3, 2020. https://www.richterarchitects. com/columbus-lpoe. “Richter Architects-Designed Port of Entry Humanizes Border Crossing.” Texas Architect Magazine, May 11, 2020. https://magazine.texasarchitects.org/2020/05/06/richter architects-designed-port-of-entry-humanizes-border-crossing/. “U.S. Land Port of Entry, Columbus, New Mexico.” The American Institute of Architects. Accessed December 3, 2020. https://www.aia.org/showcases/6280250-us-land-port of-entry-columbus-new-mexico. “U.S. Land Port of Entry at Columbus, NM.” GSA, May 14, 2020. https://www.gsa.gov/about-us/ regions/welcome-to-the-greater-southwest-region-7/buildings-and-facilities/us-land port-of-entry-at-columbus-nm. Villagran, Lauren. “‘Inspiring and Dignified Experience’: NM Border Crossing Touted as Safer, Welcoming Entry.” El Paso Times. El Paso Times, September 6, 2019. https:// www.elpasotimes.com/story/news/2019/09/05/us-safe-border-welcome-new-mexico columbus-port-entry/2212864001/.