Arkansas Transit Safety & Resource Center

Arkansas Transit Safety & Resource Center

Location: North Little Rock, Arkansas

Challenge: Design an efficient, sustainable building that would provide enduring aesthetics and reliability.

Performance: A green facility, with annual utility costs of less than $1 per square foot, giving it one of the lowest energy costs of any institutional building in Arkansas.

Description: The new facility of the Arkansas Transit Association includes offices, training rooms and vehicle bays for promoting highway safety and certifying transit drivers. The 9,300-square-foot building is a sustainable, green facility with an annual utility cost of less than $1.00 per square foot, which gives this facility one of the lowest energy costs for an institutional building in Arkansas. Energy-saving features include a geothermal heat-pump system coupled to drilled wells, day-lighting, high insulation values, and careful solar orientation and window shading. Long-lifecycle materials like aluminum and limestone decrease maintenance and will perform well for decades with little care. The design is a direct result of client/architect collaboration translating scenarios of use to real, usable solutions. The light-filled lobby serves as the reception/waiting area for the office, registration area for training participants, and event venue for a variety of users.