Situated on the St. Croix River between Calais, Maine, and St. Stephen, New
Brunswick, Canada, is the eighth busiest northern border crossing into the
United States. The new $48 million federal facility was designed under the U.S.
General Services Administration’s Design Excellence program. When it opens in
November, it will be the first new international border crossing over a
waterway between the U.S. and Canadian border in 30 years. Designed by Robert
Siegel Architects, New York City, the facility is on track to be the first Land Port of Entry to achieve LEED Gold certification.
Sitting on 50 acres (20 hectares) and consisting of 74,200 square feet (6,893 m2) of enclosed areas and 26,244 square feet (2,438 m2) of covered canopy areas, the new facility will accommodate the 1.5 million vehicles that cross the border each year.
Inspiration
Robert Siegel Architects wanted to design a building that resonated with the rural Maine terrain while also creating a high-performance, innovative and visually stunning structure. The building features an expanded aluminum mesh skin that allows the building to be viewed as a solid object resembling the emerging rocks in the surrounding area.
Before beginning the design, Robert Siegel Architects visited 20 border stations in the middle of winter to get a better understanding of the project at hand. Eduardo Ramos, project architect with Robert Siegel Architects, said that, following this research, it became clear that the project should be welcoming but also secure, with efficient operations. Efficient circulation through the facility was key in reducing the paved surface area and the up to four-hour delays to get into the U.S.
“We worked closely with civil and traffic engineers and landscape architects,” Ramos said. “We did extensive research on the region and its geology, including the glacial aspect of the region.”
Ramos noted that Native Americans in the area used the large rocks in the terrain as markers for trade routes. Similarly, Robert Siegel Architects wanted to relate to this image of the facility being a marker on a major commercial trade route. “As we were thinking of an image for the facility, and with all of its security needs, we wanted a structure that was welcoming to the traveler and secure for the officers and public,” Ramos said.
A scheme was developed that involved having two buildings with a space between them, allowing for continuity in the landscape. By opening up the border, travelers can see views of the country between the buildings before they even enter the U.S. The two buildings-commercial and noncommercial- provide a division between site traffic. Additionally, a concealed courtyard for the staff provides a quiet respite from the continuous noise of vehicle traffic.
Security and Surveillance
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security, Customs and Border Protection, who rents the building from the GSA, drove the project requirements. According to Ramos, the agency needed a building envelope that would allow officers to survey the site from within the building without being completely exposed to the outside.
Drawing from the rugged Maine terrain,Robert Siegel Architects worked with Front Inc., a New York City-based façade consultant, to explore an expanded aluminum mesh system. “As we looked at the aluminum material, we saw that expanded metal mesh, as well as perforated metal panels, perform as a sunscreen device and appear to be solid surfaces from a distance,” Ramos said. “From the outside, we wanted it to look solid-like a rock or boulder on the landscape- and on the inside, we needed for it to be totally transparent.”
Working with Front was Maplewood, Minn.- based M.G. McGrath Inc., who fabricated the aluminum mesh system for the building. Approximately 40,000 square feet (3,716 m2) of the expanded aluminum wall panel system clads the commercial and non-commercial buildings, in addition to the booths. The subtle forming of the aluminum panels creates dynamic conditions of shade and shadow that reflect the hues of the changing seasons in the sky and landscape.
The Process
“Robert Siegel Architects came to us with the idea of incorporating the surrounding context of Calais and the Maine landscape and terrain, specifically the granite, and incorporating it into the facility’s design,” said Brian Guerrero, project consultant with Front. “They were looking for guidance and a method of how to use the expanded metal mesh as a cladding system. We focused on using the mesh in its raw material form.”
McGrath and Robert Siegel Architects looked at a variety of different options and panel sizes for the project. They looked at the difference between break-forming the panels versus creating a stampto emboss them. According to Mark LaSalle, senior project manager at McGrath, “We looked at the upfront cost of the stamp to determine if it is was worth putting the money into the stamp to save time and fabrication and how it would affect the overall look of the panel.”
LaSalle explained that McGrath made a small mock-up of the panel that was brought to the existing port of entry to see how the panels would perform throughout the winter with ice and other weather conditions. In order to create a shape that resembled the craggy surface of a rock, McGrath worked on shop drawings and from 3-D models provided by Robert Siegel Architects. Sample panels were cut out of Styrofoam, and after two rounds of precise model adjustments and remodeling, Mc-Grath came up with the final model for the stamp.
The development of the module was based on the most efficient use of the material, according to Guerrero. A 40-inch (1,016-mm) module allowed Front to return the panel edges and form a pillow, or box, that was used to create the volumes, or shapes, that were manageable and could be hung on the backup support system. This necessitated creating a cavity in which the mesh could be separated from the solid background wall.
“The 40-inch module was used to coordinate the backup structure, which allowed three panels to fit into a structure that was 10 feet
[3 m] wide by 10 feet tall,” Guerrero said. “This worked well with the building’s primary structure, where the steel work occurred, and was also incorporated within the concrete walls. By hanging the panels, the sightlines were minimized and the profiles were thinner.”
“The profile was cut into a solid piece of 4-inch- [102-mm-] thick tooling aluminum,” LaSalle said. “The stamps were put into a 500-ton [450-metricton] press that stamped the expanded aluminum panels. From there we built a small mock-up to approve the panels in the expanded aluminum shape, before finalizing the engineering.”
The cladding system is designed as a ventilated rainscreen, according to Bruce Nichol, partner with Front. “One of the primary criteria for the overall design of the system was weight, and while the mesh itself weighs very little, in the worst weather conditions, it could be subjected to an ice storm. Taking concurrent windload into consideration, this required a rather large substructure, leading to a significant difference in the material self-weight and the size of the substructure.
“The logical way to support the system was to hang it from the roof, and brace it laterally for windload at the base and at the 10-foot increment in its height. There was concern that the panels would look like a patchwork, or modular system, so we endeavored to conceal the seams.”
The panel stamp design by Robert Siegel Architects achieves the appearance of a continuous surface. The increase in the amount of valleys and ridges, which are continuous from panel to panel visually, unifies the assembly, according to Ramos.
“The panels lend themselves to a very random pattern, which allowed the building to blend in and relate to the landscape,” Nichol said. “You don’t know where the panels begin and end, so the building becomes very natural and loses its sense of scale.
“While the panels were being produced, McGrath went about installing the knife blades, or attachment plates, for the tube structure, which needed to beinstalled prior to the EIFS system behind the cladding. This required coordination of multiple trades by Lowell, Mass.-based J&J Contractors, the general contractor, to make sure all exterior façade systems would line up properly. Once the insulated wall system was installed, the tube structure was completed. The tube structure consists of 4- by 7-inch (102- by 178-mm) vertical extruded aluminum mullions and 4-inch by 6-inch
(152-mm) horizontal extruded aluminum transoms, all with a clear anodic finish.
“We engineered the tube frames and the panel frames by manipulating the materials with computerized design software,” LaSalle said. “To complete engineering, we tested panel deflection with static and dynamic windload tests. We worked with Frontand developed panel stiffeners and brackets needed to eliminate any vibration and noise while minimizing the deflection of the panels.
The expanded aluminum panels were manufactured in Minnesota, and McGrath leased a warehouse near the site for the final panel assembly. The aluminum mesh was put onto the face and back of panels, and cladding frames were pre-assembled in the warehouse, eliminating additional shipping costs.” The expanded aluminum cladding creates a protective layer for the building that acts as both a rainscreen and a veil of surveillance, allowing staff and visitors to see out without being seen from the outside.
Sustainable Elements
The Land Port of Entry is expected to receive a LEED Gold rating and features a variety of sustainable features. These include lined bioswales that naturally collect and filter road water runoff and protect the nearby city aquifer; a tempered microclimate created by the building massing within the site; and low-maintenance native plant species used throughout the landscape. Additionally, clean air is drawn from the protected courtyard, while low-VOC and/or recycled finish materials were used throughout the project. Daylighting, efficient fixtures and the metal screen allow for reduced electrical use, while dualflush toilets and waterless urinals aid in reducing water consumption.
Currently, approximately 90 percent of the cladding has been completed on the non-commercial building. The knife plates and tube structures are in place for the commercial building, with the panels to be installed soon.
“It is our hope that this building will represent the aspirations of our time and that history will remember us as the generation who, while confronted by terrorism and violence at home and abroad, chose to make buildings that embody the enduring values of our democracy,” said Robert Siegel, principal of Robert Siegel Architects. “The border station building type represents an inherent contradiction, and this project is no exception; the facility is welcoming but secure, open but closed, flexible but permanent.”
U.S. Land Port of Entry, Calais, Maine
Owner: U.S. General Services Administration
Architect: Robert Siegel Architects, New York City
General contractor: J & J Contractors Inc., Lowell, Mass.
EIFS contractor: Palace Construction LLC, Litchfield, N.H.
Structural engineer: Arup, New York City
Window contractor: AD&W Architectural Doors & Windows, Westbrook, Maine
Façade consultant: Front Inc., New York City
Façade fabricator: M.G. McGrath Inc., Maplewood, Minn.
