Farming for the Future

By K. Robert Wendel

Surrounded by fields of grain and alfalfa, the new U.S. Department of Agriculture Arid Research laboratory complex will soon open in farm country 40 mi. south of Phoenix.

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Scientists at the new, 100,000-sq.-ft. complex, which is surrounded by 1,500 acres of farm fields in Pinal County, conduct a wide variety of experiments on grain, hay, insects, water and fertilizer. The construction result is an eclectic architectural design incorporating an array of building materials.

The 20-acre project is nearing completion, with scientists preparing to move in this fall. The new research campus replaces the USDA's facility at 40th Street and Broadway in Phoenix.

Phoenix-based CORE Construction is the general contractor on the $20 million job.

The project was built under the U.S. Government's "Energy Star" rating system that provides a framework for constructing energy- efficient buildings.

Efficient water use is one of the lab's main research thrusts, and architects took that to heart when designing the facility. The lab's office roof is V -shaped and drains storm water into a 10,000-gallon stainless steel tank that is incorporated into the architecture. The V -roof also provides shade for the office entryway.

The project retains all storm water in a 120-ft.- long, 96-in.- diameter underground tank. All the collected water is used for landscaping with a total of 45,000 gallons of water storage available.

"It all goes back to the lab's mission of water conservation and agricultural research," said architect Mark Kranz in the Phoenix office of SmithGroup. "When we designed it, we thought of rain clamoring on a tin shed roof, collecting as much water as possible."

The eclectic project resembles a campus, with nine single-story buildings arranged around a central courtyard. Three buildings are greenhouses, one building is a lab, four are mult iuse buildings and one is the main office. The buildings are connected by walkways covered with a cantilevered shade structure.

The main office is constructed of load-bearing masonry and steel truss roofs. MAG Masonry of Gilbert laid integrally colored and sandblasted block. The office's entryway evokes the lab's agricultural mission with a scale-sized model of a cotton hopper.

On the labs, stainless steel exhaust stacks mimic grain silos. All of the buildings are capped with steel roofs.

The actual laboratories are tilt panels topped with steel trusses. Phoenix-based S & H Steel provided the steel.

Because scientists conduct a wide variety of experiments, the labs feature different components. Insect research is one aspect of the research. The lab also features insectariums, typical lab gasses, autoclaves and stainless steel cabinets.

"We have a little bit of everything," said CORE Construction project engineer Mike Steyck. "It's really a hodge podge project,"

The greenhouses are steel framed with special acrylic panels that allow plenty of light to flood the indoor gardens. Four of the buildings are pre- engineered metal buildings provided by Arizona Building Systems of Phoenix.

"The steel buildings give us maximum flexibility and the capability for expansion, and they are fairly economical as well," Kranz said. "A good chunk of the campus is the nicely detailed sheds."

A central plant with two boilers and two chillers provides heating and cooling for all the buildings except the greenhouses, which use swamp coolers. Phoenix-based Midstate Mechanical installed the various mechanical systems.

Because the project is in a remote area with limited utilities, designers created a self-sufficient campus.

"One of the neat things about this project is that it's a self-sustaining site," said civil engineer Jason Mikkelsen of Dibble & Associates, a Phoenix-based civil engineering firm which designed the site work. "The project has a full water- production system, a waste water treatment system and an on-site well."

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