The building will be seven times larger than the existing 28,923-sq-ft facility, which opened in 1966 when the city’s population was about 35,000; its current population is about 216,000. The city has since been forced to lease additional space at other sites scattered across town.

“City Hall is our largest building to date,” says Tom Brady, engineering planning manager for North Las Vegas. “It’s going to place departments from nine different buildings under one roof.”

The 210,000-sq-ft building will house 350 city employees upon completion in October 2011. The 40,000-sq-ft first level will contain council chambers and a one-stop shop for development services. The 25,000-sq-ft second level will house several development-related offices. Floors three through nine are 16,000 sq ft in size and contain the remaining divisions and departments, with City Council and city manager offices atop.

North Las Vegas City Hall, like its counterpart, is an adaptive-reuse project. The complex sits on 12 acres near Hunkins Drive and McDaniel Street, occupying a defunct trailer park as well as vacant land. It uses several sustainable-building strategies designed to lower heating and cooling bills and conserve natural resources.

The project is anticipated to save the city $700,000 a year in energy costs, says city public works director Qiong Liu.

The building uses PV solar panels on its building rooftop as well as portions of its 600-space surface parking lot, which are expected to generate 12% of the building’s electrical power. North Las Vegas, similar to its neighbor, is recycling 75% of construction debris and uses drought-tolerant water fixtures and landscaping.

The project additionally emphasizes indoor air quality through high-efficiency mechanical systems, daylighting and low-VOC materials. The exterior design incorporates a shaded entry arcade and a sun-shading cap on the rooftop.

The project includes a four-acre outdoor public area. “The civic plaza will serve as a central gathering place for the community and is designed to accommodate stage performances and music festivals,” Popowski says. “A civic water fountain with interactive spray pads adds a fun family attraction to the plaza.”

Construction will generate 160 jobs.

“This is our first large-scale project in North Las Vegas, and we really wanted to make a design statement,” Brady says. “Sustainability made sense because we can’t afford to have a lot in operational costs during these tough financial times.”

Key Players

Owners: City of Las Vegas; City of North Las Vegas

Developer: Forest City Enterprises (LV)

General Contractor: Whiting-Turner Contracting Co.

Architects: Fentress Architects (NLV); JMA (LV); Elkus Manfredi Architects (LV)