The Sheriff’s Command Center is situated in the heart of a culturally rich and distinctly traditional region of the Rio Grande Valley. The site is nestled in a mixed-income commercial / residential / agricultural setting that is located within the Village of Los Ranchos de Albuquerque community. Stretching from one end of Albuquerque to the other, Fourth Street poetically shadows the Rio Grande and has served as a primary north-south public way for centuries.

The heritage of the region is evident in the whispers of El Camino Real, Spanish Land Grants and the Agricultural Communities of eras gone by. The present day architectural texture and character of the area is freckled with simple structures of adobe, stucco, wood, corrugated metal gable roofs, trellis and portales densely situated on modest parcels accented by wild flowers, native grasses and endangered Rio Grande Cottonwood trees. The traditional New Mexican village-like setting struggles to defy time as it attempts to survive the ever-encroaching urban influences of Albuquerque and north fourth street.

The community based Command Center reinforces its connection with the past while standing as a bridge to the future and a symbol of professional integrity, permanence and dedication to public protection and service.

The open floor plan includes an internal “race-track” circulation system that engages site security strategies and internal Law Enforcement operations: five distinct ZONES support a variety of functions including public, administration, evidence, interview and patrol. The facility integrates complex Information Age technologies and balances current departmental operations with flexible modular work environments to embrace the need for continual change and perpetual innovation.

The design solution is characterized by sustainability through energy efficiency, durability and honesty of materials, standards of high quality construction, state-of-the-art technologies and systems, clerestory daylighting and contextually sensitive architectural languages that thread through the interior and exterior alike.