This stunning 67,844 sq. ft. government building for the U.S. General Services Administration, located in the Mesa del Sol community of Albuquerque, NM, combines parking and storage space on the ground floor and offices on the second floor. It features Metallic Building Company’s Long Bay System® construction.

The GSA building houses a beautifully-camouflaged parking garage on the first floor, with office space above. Using the Long Bay® system resulted in fewer interior columns, allowing more useable square feet of office space, and added flexibility to the end-user’s floor plan. It’s a perfect application for companies that need space to more easily employ cubicle-style office systems.

The 139-foot wide structure utilizes Long Bay in an unusual application. The project had specific requirements for wide interior spans utilizing an open web joist system. And, according to Metallic District Sales Manager Trey Ohl, that fit the Long Bay System perfectly.

“The builder on the project, Dura Bilt Products, Inc., has their own architecture in-house. They are experts in metal buildings – and knowing what the client needed, they knew to point them toward this clear span product,” explained Ohl. Typically found in warehouse applications, the Long Bay System allows up to a 65 foot span – with faster and much lower-cost erection than conventional structural steel buildings since no on-site welding is required.

Roofing consists of a B-deck system with a 1/2:12 roof slope. The mezzanine floor system also employs B-decking. Exterior balconies feature a cantilever mezzanine flooring system with a cantilever roof system.

Exterior details such as the metal stud stucco walls, heavy gauge aluminum panels, Arizona-type stone facing and glass curtain walls turn this structure into a work of art that’s also functional and affordable. The GSA Building at Mesa del Sol proves that something beautiful can happen when combining the high-end design elements of great architecture with a versatile and affordable custom-engineered metal building application.

The general contractor and architect for this project was Dura Bilt Products, Inc. of Albuquerque, NM. The erector was Commercial Steel Systems. The roofing contractor was Mudd Brothers.