Valle Bajo Community Center and Library

Exigo partnered with Marmon Mok Architecture and Jordan Foster Construction to design and build the Valle Bajo Community Center, aiming to provide the community with sports and recreational services for years to come. The Multipurpose Center includes a Gymnasium, Cardio Weights Room, Game Space, and a Public Library. It also features multi‐purpose rooms for various events, from smaller classes to quinceañeras. Outdoor amenities include trails, a soccer field, a futsal court, a playground, and an outdoor amphitheater. A strategic distribution plan was implemented to accommodate all activities. The control desk is located at the entrance to guide the patrons, and acoustical materials, glazed partitions, and area entrances help manage noise levels while allowing visual interaction and public participation.

The Valle Bajo is a multigenerational community center that brings together kids, youth, adults, and the elderly in a friendly and safe environment. It is designed to encourage citizens of all ages to share experiences while promoting interaction, respect, and leisure. The facility features a modern art piece titled “Voids” by artist Osman Akan that hangs in the atrium, connecting the library with the cultural center. the sculpture is composed of five separate suspended pieces made of strands of illuminated optical LED fibers giving the illusion as the artist pointed out “of the erosions that form the canyons leave natural forms with horizontal lines behind them. These are similar to the height lines we use in cartography in time”.

The center is located in one of the busiest thoroughfares in El Paso, on Alameda Dr., which is predominantly used for car lots, construction raw material lots, and storage facilities. This street is known for being one of the loudest and least pedestrian or visually friendly streets in the area. The vision behind the community center was to transform this faceless street and provide a welcoming and friendly environment for the community.

By placing the building near the street and locating the patron’s entrance and outdoor activities in the rear, we mitigate the traffic noise and provide a friendly, secure, and quiet space. The project’s design distinguishes itself from its surroundings. Inspired by the desert flowers found in El Paso, the roofs change heights and stagger like petals. The building spreads with high windows and clerestories allowing natural light and mountain views at the library, multipurpose room, and fitness center. We selected materials like stone, stucco, and steel to mimic our desert and harmonize with El Paso’s beautiful landscape, breaking Alameda’s monotone streetscape.

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