Oil Drilling Represented in Design of Mack Energy Building

By Scott Blair, Editor-in-Chief

Mack Energy Corporate Office, Artesia, N.M.

Photo by Patrick Coulie Photography

The vertical lines of the Mack Energy Corporate Office stands out in the Artesia, N.M. landscape.

Photo by Patrick Coulie Photography

The two-story lobby features exposed steel trusses that evoke the structure of oil derricks.

Soaring steel spires evoke images of oil and gas wells rising toward the blue sky at this energy company's rural New Mexico headquarters. The theme carries into the two-story lobby's exposed steel trusses, which evoke the structure of oil derricks. Natural materials were used throughout, including walls clad in stone arranged to depict the oil-rich rock strata of the region. The 56,000-sq-ft building is supported using tinted concrete tilt-up panels with an efficient structural steel post-and-beam and metal-decking system, except for the steel-framed lobby. The project team committed to a 100% electronic exchange of all files, from virtual drawings to submittals. Handheld devices and laptops were used extensively at the remote jobsite.

Key Players

Contractor: Jaynes Corp., Albuquerque

Owner: Chase Oil Corp., Artesia, N.M.

Lead Design: Van H. Gilbert Architect PC, Albuquerque

Structural Engineer: Desert Eagle Engineering, Albuquerque

Civil Engineer: Bohannan Huston, Albuquerque

MEP: Bridgers & Paxton Consulting Engineers, Albuquerque

Submitted by Jaynes Corp.

Blair leads day-to-day operations of the ENR editorial team to ensure brand quality and further best practices. He spearheads ENR's various competitions, including Best Projects and the Award of Excellence, and organizes editorial content at events including the Top Young Professionals conference. A Jesse H. Neal, Construction Media Alliance and AZBEES-award-winning writer and videographer, Blair frequently contributes to ENR’s burgeoning video channel with project tour videos and interviews with industry leaders. He is also a frequent speaker and moderator on topics such as diversity and inclusion, design and jobsite technology, construction means and methods and marketing.