Ever wonder where garbage trucks go for a bath? The Northwest Service Center is a maintenance hub for the many hard-working vehicles in the City fleet. Alamo Architects provided architectural design criteria (bridging documents) for this central fleet maintenance campus for the City of San Antonio. Our exploration of light industrial materials in City projects (such as fire stations) gave us a ready vocabulary to bring local identity to these municipal buildings – within the construction and budget parameters of building typology.

As part of a new campus master plan rollout, the University of Texas at San Antonio (UTSA) facilities management department in 2010 engaged us to design the Bauerle Road Parking Garage and Visitor Center. We recognized the opportunity to make a significant contribution to the central campus academic neighborhood. Additionally, we proposed an innovative solution for improved ADA accessibility with a pedestrian bridge to the Main Building. Through its scale, timeless architectural expression, and thoughtful site plan, the structure joins the north quadrant as an integral campus building.

Through several client engagements with the City of San Antonio Fire Department, we explored strategies to create authentic architecture with basic, durable materials and construction methods. As expected in a municipal project, we worked with the City to manage construction cost, long term maintenance, and programmatic requirements inherent in the building type. Knowledge gained in this early group of successful fire station projects formed the basis for a set of design standards and specifications we developed with city staff at the CoSA Fire Department.