The building is sited along the north boundary at Zia Road to take advantage of spectacular Northeast views to the Sangre de Cristo Mountains, and to provide visibility and establish a positive presence to the community. Parking is placed south of the building and consolidates all parking for both office buildings.

The building design features layers of overlapping massing elements. Building volumes overlap and step back vertically and horizontally providing a scaling down of building volumes resulting in a pleasing composition at a comfortable human scale. A monumental entry portal faces South and opens visually into a two-story lobby also finished out in the Santa Fe Style. To accommodate the major tenant (Cancer Institute of New Mexico), two massive reinforced concrete radiation containment vaults were incorporated into the building design, and were placed at the high east end of the site up to 6 feet below finish grade and take advantage of the 3 foot thick walls acting as retaining walls and effectively reduce its overall mass above grade. The exterior sports window groupings with wide intermediate mullions to terminate interior room partition walls. Glazed window openings may also be a door sidelight combination for exiting or access to the various covered porches and 2nd floor balconies.

Along the north side the building floor is set 2 feet below finish grade to accommodate site drainage. This also reduces the visible height of building above grade along Zia Road, and allows greater floor-to- floor height, and insure compliance with zoning height restrictions. A 12 foot wide bike trail developed in conjunction with the City of Santa Fe is incorporated into the site. It traverses from south to north along the eastern site boundary. This area has a significant grade change and is stepping up with terraced planters formed with a series of serpentine retaining walls which vary in height up to a limit of 4 feet. The serpentine bike trail is handicap accessible and provides a link between apartment and condominium complexes to the south and commercial & residential areas across Zia Road to the North. A combination bike trail/sidewalk follows Zia Road along the north site boundary and is separated from the street by a landscape buffer strip planted with street trees and ornamental plantings.

DESIGN & CONSTRUCTION
The building exterior incorporates a contemporary Santa Fe Style reflecting the historical use of adobe construction in the region. This modernized version features clean lines and carefully scaled massing with softened corners and sculpted parapets and utilizes a simple palette of materials including stucco, natural stone, windows, and natural wood elements. Angular designed light fixtures which are surface mounted to stucco walls and wood soffits present a hint of the geometry commonly found in southwestern art-forms.

The structural system is composed of a steel moment frame design on a 30’ x 30’ grid and tied together with a reinforced concrete elevator shaft. This eliminates the use of cross-bracing members allowing unhindered flexibility for interior wall layouts and for window placement in the exterior walls.

The entry experience passes beneath a wood structured upper level balcony set back and sheltered comfortably beneath an entry portal which gently curves outward and is supported by a curved wood beam set on large naturally tapered round wood columns topped with decorative corbels. After passing through a glazed wall, a two story space soars 25 feet to a wood ceiling and beams punctuated with a pair of large 10’ x 22’ low-rise vaulted skylights. Bronze tinted over clear insulating vaulted glazing presents a gracious view to the sky and pleasantly brightens the space with daylighting. Glazed openings with wood paneling inserts provides borrowed daylight to adjacent suites while at the same time providing views into the lobby space. A decorative metal staircase wraps around a free-standing elevator shaft clad with dry-stacked natural sandstone. Continuous vertical glazing provides borrowed daylight into the shaft and changing views thru a glass-backed elevator cab while in motion.

The project utilizes a ground source loop heat pump system supplying 100% heating and cooling. A small cooling tower is included to bleed off excess heat during summer months. A series of 250-foot deep thermal wells below the parking areas provides a reliable heat source in winter and heat-sink in summer. A minimum R-30 insulating roof assembly and R-28 insulating wall assembly temper summer heat gain and winter heat losses. Additionally, bronze tinted Low-e insulating glazing units were utilized and set into a thermally broken aluminum framing system. A white single membrane TPO roofing system provides a cool surface and minimizes heat transfer into the building thru the roof assembly. Thick exterior walls provide extra depth for recessed windows. Deep portals provide privacy and shading for wall areas below. The building includes a partial basement to accommodate the mechanical and electrical equipment and provide much desired tenant storage space on the premises. It may be accessed by stair or by the building elevator which provides added convenience to tenants and building maintenance for the transfer of stored records or materials.

PROJECT SUCCESS
The North Building is currently 60% occupied and 90% leased. The cost of the building was within the budget and the financial returns are meeting or exceeding the owners’ expectations. Tenant build-out has been on-going from well before construction of the building was completed. Feedback received from the general public, tenants, and visitors has been very positive and often filled with praise. The colorful building is viewed as a fresh and beautiful interpretation of a modern version of the Santa Fe style.

A prestigious building possessing a high quality of design and skillful construction, that would be enjoyed and appreciated by the users and community was a major goal for the Owner (Plaza Entrada Office Complex, Ltd. Co.) H. Barker Architects has provided tenant improvement design and construction administration for all tenants to date. The Cancer Institute of New Mexico Suite is completed and provides an innovative and high quality of interior design and construction. Many people have expressed their gratitude at having state of the art cancer treatment in Santa Fe and eliminating the need to travel to Albuquerque for further treatment. The building is 88% efficient in terms of a ratio of walls + common areas to area available for lease. Construction of the second building is underway due to the successful completion and leasing of this project.

DESIGN WORK PROVIDED
DCSW Architects provided all site development, architecture, interior design of the Lobby Core areas, building construction administration, and building coordination with T.I. build-out design and construction. Major tenant improvement design provided by H. Barker Architects. Engineering provided by Chavez-Grieves Consulting Engineers (Structural), Bridgers & Paxton (Mechanical), Allied Engineering (Electrical), Goodwin & Associates (Civil), and The Hilltop (Landscaping ). All construction by Summit Construction Company.

The biggest challenge involved the integration of a myriad of site features and program requirements. These included numerous Site Development requirements from Officials representing the City of Santa Fe, Specialized building requirements and a treatment vault addition for the Cancer Institute of New Mexico, Grading & Drainage difficulties on a long and narrow site with a 15 foot drop in elevation, accommodating abrupt grade changes in confined areas between building and site boundaries landscape buffer easements and paved areas & drives, and integrating a scaled down retaining wall system and bike trail into a narrow area 400 feet long with a steep grade change and filled with natural vegetation including pinon pine trees that were to be saved without exception. Despite the seemingly insurmountable task of acomplishing a successful solution, the final outcome achieved a synergy being much more than the sum of all the various parts.