41 Paseo De Yucatan

ICE Nogales / Rio Rico

Situated north of the US/Mexico Border, the new ICE Office of Investigations building is a great example of the deployment of efficient and cost-effective construction technologies married with articulated detailing and high-performance materials delivering a LEED-NC Gold Certified building. Completed in July 2011, the 47,000 square foot building is composed of two distinct areas – an office area and an enclosed parking garage. The building is located on a very hilly site of 94,000 square feet, hugging the north and eastern boundaries of the site. The open space on the south and west sides of the building utilize the site terrain to create a depressed landscape retention area filled with native vegetation.

Inside the office building great care is taken to provide as much daylight as possible to the occupants. Open workstations, enclosed offices and shared work spaces ring the southern, western, and northern areas of the building. In occupied areas located further away from the perimeter walls, skylights are strategically placed to provide natural light.

Each exterior window is carefully shaded with an articulated shade device made of steel plate to provide passive control of solar heat gain. A distinct pattern is laser cut into the steel plate and derived from the shade made by the Black Walnut tree, a local tree once abundant in the region and the source of the name “Nogales.”

The GSA Office Building incorporates a conventional concrete tilt-up wall system with an energy efficient wall and roof system. The interior sides of the walls are completely insulated with rigid foam boards from the slab to the roof membrane. The roof includes 7” of insulfoam under a TPO (Thermoplastic Polyolefin) roofing system, maximizing the efficiency of the insulating system for the building. A 53 Kilowatt roof mounted solar system augments efficiency while 50,000 gallons of rainwater harvesting storage provide all irrigation needs for the surrounding lush desert landscape.