[caption id="attachment_7553" align="alignnone" width="2000"] © David Richter[/caption]  

TXDOT PECOS COUNTY SAFETY REST AREA | RICHTER ARCHITECTS

Interstate 10, West Pecos County, Texas   [caption id="attachment_7552" align="alignnone" width="900"] © David Richter[/caption]   Description provided by Richter Architects. Native limestone strata is periodically revealed along the Interstate highway. Natural grasses, mesas and mountains are layered along the expansive remote landscape.   [caption id="attachment_7562" align="alignnone" width="1200"] Site Plan © Richter Architects[/caption]   Along the eastern approach to the Davis Mountains, an interstate highway safety rest area is derived of the geology, ecology and cultural history of this region of the Chihuahuan Desert of West Texas.

Program

The project provides to the traveling public restrooms, vending, cultural and historical exhibits, picnic areas, play areas, nature trails, and parking for weary drivers who travel along Interstate 10 that connects the West Coast to the East Coast. Travelers pass by in cars, vans, RVs, trucks and buses. The goal of the Texas Department of Transportation is to enhance highway safety by providing drivers and families with a welcoming and engaging place for rest and relief from the road fatigue.   [caption id="attachment_7554" align="alignnone" width="1300"] © David Richter[/caption] [caption id="attachment_7555" align="alignnone" width="1600"] © David Richter[/caption] [caption id="attachment_7557" align="alignnone" width="750"] © Elizabeth Chu Richter[/caption] [caption id="attachment_7544" align="alignnone" width="1000"] © Craig Blackmon[/caption] [caption id="attachment_7561" align="alignnone" width="1200"] © Elizabeth Chu Richter[/caption] [caption id="attachment_7558" align="alignnone" width="1100"] © Elizabeth Chu Richter[/caption] [caption id="attachment_7545" align="alignnone" width="1200"] © Craig Blackmon[/caption] [caption id="attachment_7559" align="alignnone" width="1600"] © Elizabeth Chu Richter[/caption] [caption id="attachment_7556" align="alignnone" width="1400"] © David Richter[/caption] [caption id="attachment_7546" align="alignnone" width="1100"] © Craig Blackmon[/caption] [caption id="attachment_7547" align="alignnone" width="1200"] © Craig Blackmon[/caption] [caption id="attachment_7548" align="alignnone" width="1200"] © Craig Blackmon[/caption]   This design provides essential travel amenities via a substantive interpretation of the region. The core inspiration is the land itself, the big sky, and the many ways their beauty and stories are revealed – beauty that can be sensed at highway speed but only fully grasped on foot. From the intimate scale of tiny flowers peeking from dust and rock to the distant horizon scribed by layered mountains –the land is the story of past, present and future here.   [caption id="attachment_7549" align="alignnone" width="1200"] © Craig Blackmon[/caption]   Space and line in the exhibit area reinforce the east/west travel that is at the core of the project's mission, while inviting pause from the 80 mph perspective to appreciate land and sky more intimately.   [caption id="attachment_7550" align="alignnone" width="800"] © Craig Blackmon[/caption] [caption id="attachment_7560" align="alignnone" width="1200"] © Elizabeth Chu Richter[/caption] [caption id="attachment_7551" align="alignnone" width="1000"] © Craig Blackmon[/caption]  

Each building at 7,600 sqft (one east-bound and one west-bound) is composed of two stone masses shifted to frame borrowed views of the mountain horizon and to focus through-views to the east and west – origin and destination. The geometry further provides beneficial passive solar orientation. Native stone is organically coursed to suggest the geology revealed in highway land cuts as topography rolls. The roof of gallery spaces randomly folds to echo the horizon. Wood plank floors give audible recall to early Texas frontier structures. Dry creeks carry rain water away from the buildings while connecting the Corten steel plate picnic shades with reminders of how water nourishes and carves the desert land. Native desert plants were fenced and protected during construction.

 

Project Details

Project location: Interstate 10,West Pecos County, Texas, USA Architects: David Richter, FAIA; Elizabeth Chu Richter, FAIA Architect’s Firm: RICHTER ARCHITECTS Project Team: Sam Morris, AIA; Stephen Cox, AIA; Bob Mitchell, AIA; Aaron Geiser, Assoc. AIA; Lonnie Gatlin, Assoc. AIA; Albert Delgado Jr, Assoc. AIA and Toan Q. Huynh Website: www.richterarchitects.com Completion Year: February 2018 Gross Built Area: 7600 square feet - Eastbound, 7600 square feet - Westbound Structural/ Civil Engineer: Jaster Quintanilla Dallas, LLP MEP Engineer: Stridde, Callins, Assoc. Inc. Landscape: MRWM Landscape Architects