Faced with a fast-growing population, Phoenix needed to quickly replace Skunk Creek Landfill, one of the city's last urban facilities. Once closed, waste would have to be shipped from the city's northern neighborhoods to a facility 60 miles away. Without a station to separate waste and recyclables, shipping could be cumbersome - and costly.
Unique Features |
» | More than 90 percent of structural steel and interior finish materials are recycled |
» | Native plants were relocated to preserve habitats and decrease water demand |
» | Building profiles and colors designed to resemble desert landscape and hues |
| Award 2007 Gold SWANA Excellence Award for Transfer Stations |
The solution was the 450-acre, $40 million City of Phoenix North Gateway Campus including the 4,000 tons-per-day North Transfer Station and Material Recovery Facility (NTS-MRF). The facility has an administrative building, two scale houses, a maintenance facility and fueling station. An IT communications center, materials recovery line and commercial transfer areas were drawn into the design. Top-loading ports were built to accommodate expansion at NTS-MRF, which can now process 320 tons of waste per day. HDR and partner JRMA provided programming, design and construction services while HDR Construction Control Corporation (CCC) provided construction engineering, inspection, and administration services.
To withstand the harsh heat and relentless sun, the 42-acre facility had to have a durable shell and efficient operations to conserve electricity and water. The expansive NTS-MRF, including the 180,000-square-foot transfer facility where recyclables are first separated from waste, lights its exteriors with solar power generated from a solar grid. Long roof overhangs shade interiors and reduce cooling needs while highly reflective and emissive roof paint minimizes heat radiation and improves HVAC performance. More than 90 percent of structural steel used in the NTS-MRF is recycled.
The NTS-MRF was carefully erected between native desert floodplains with a minimal footprint and a profile evoking the desert landscape. The broad ground-hugging structures were meant to resemble neighboring mesas and colors were carefully matched to blend buildings into its environment. Displaced native plants, including the protected saguaro cactus, were relocated to preserve the surrounding desert habitat and lessen water needed to nourish non-indigenous plants.