Land Port of Entry at Massena

The Land Port of Entry at Massena is a General Services Administration (GSA) Design Excellence project located along the St. Lawrence River on the US / Canada border. As a “front door‟ to the United States, the campus landscape and architecture organizes the myriad procedures involved in the processing of private and commercial circulation while providing a message of optimism and openness.

The composition of buildings and roads is carefully integrated within native and created wetland areas to maintain an ecological balance at the site. These wetlands both visually and ecologically mitigate the extensive pavement required for orderly circulation. At every point, environmentally-conscious solutions and techniques for site and buildings were seamlessly woven into the overall design strategy to provide the public with a LEED-certified project that offers a new idea of the border crossing station. In addition to creation of new mitigation wetlands, the site design includes wetland treatment of stormwater through creation of stormwater-treatment wetlands, bioretention areas, and bioswales. Planting design utilizes exclusively native species of trees, shrubs, and grasses. To achieve simultaneous design requirements for surveillance and limited maintenance, a special native grass/ wildflower mix was developed to cover non-wetland portions of the site with low growing meadow cover.

Orientation over the 57-acre site is achieved through a cohesive language for roads, buildings, and landscape. The color yellow, ubiquitous and cautionary, is used throughout the site to define destinations for public processing. Swaths of painted yellow surfaces structure a wayfinding geography for vehicle and pedestrian operations.

Location

Massena, NY

Client

General Services Administration

Role

Landscape Architect

Team

Smith-Miller + Hawkinson Architects, ARUP Engineers, Barton & Loguidice Engineers