Rio Rancho Campus Park is at the heart of City Center, between City Hall and the Santa Ana Star Center. The park embodies Rio Rancho’s value toward placemaking and honors the geomorphological context of the city. The general site arrangement and program selection emerged out of dialogues with city planning and the community, helping to prioritize an outcome that would build an iconic outdoor gathering space and activity hub on the 6.5 acres west of City Hall.

Formal expression and material selection were designed to work in tandem, utilizing native materials in bold patterns in a reference to regional patternmaking. The design responds to environmental conditions and human comfort, mitigating strong wind patterns through contour and landform, while focusing vista points to capture prominent views. The inclusion of multi-purposed activity spaces and integrated path network bolsters the city park experience.

The design manages stormwater drainage and surface runoff through localized infiltration, catchment, and treatment at the park lowlands. Native plant species are used as well as prioritizing local material selection, to support the project design narrative of contextual contribution and representation.

Heat and sun are significant factors when it comes to occupying outdoor space in Rio Rancho. Providing shade was at the heart of the design and was represented through a functional hierarchy of shade pavilions. The Sky Room Pavilion accommodates grand events while remaining welcoming for daily users. It mediates human scale relationship of the adjacent landforms through terracing and surface treatment variation.  A series of medium scale shade structures and smaller canopies provide sun protection for informal gatherings and daily leisure. Movable umbrellas provide immediate and flexible shade protection.

Location: Rio Rancho, NM

Status: Phase 1: Constructed 2021, Phase 2: On-going

Project Type: Park

Client: City of Rio Rancho

Collaborators: Pland, McClain + Yu Architects

Photography: Marble Street Studio

Awards

University of New Mexico Jeff Harner Award for Contemporary Architecture in the Southwest, 2022

AIA Distinguished Architecture Award, 2022

AIA Albuquerque Honor Award, 2021