The South Reno Department of Motor Vehicles facility provides a state-of-the-art service center that consolidates all operations and divisions in Reno-Sparks to a single location. Situated on a large site in a light commercial area with minimal architectural context, the design team focused on creating a pleasant customer experience from the point of arrival. The site design had to accommodate a large amount of customer parking, dedicated staff parking, drive-through inspection and emissions services. The Commercial Driver’s License (CDL) office and drive test area were located north of the facility with a separate entrance.

The building program required dedicated space for nine different divisions, each with a different level of customer interface and space requirements. To accommodate, the overall facility plan was separated into two different buildings connected by a covered canopy that provides outdoor space for vehicle inspections. A robust signage package was integrated into the site design to supplement the wayfinding to the various operations.

A limited palette of masonry, metal panels, and aluminum storefront was used for the exterior, with the masonry continued to the interior of the building to provide durability in high traffic areas. Public entrances are emphasized with contrasting masonry color and height, large format signage incorporated into the building architecture, and extensive outdoor seating areas.

The focal point of the facility is the customer lobby. The monumental butterfly roof creates an iconic profile for the building and allows for continuous clerestory windows to illuminate the space. The exposed structure is painted white to further reflect the natural light and reduce the artificial lighting requirements for the building. Large soffits within the lobby provide areas for numbering the stations and mounting large screen digital arrays. The wood finish of the soffits provides a material counterpoint to the other exposed structural materials and works with the acoustical roof deck to reduce ambient noise in the large space.

The wood soffits conceal a catwalk that provides access to the mechanical units and ducting while keeping them out of view from below. The design also provides an opportunity for indirect lighting, utilizing the exposed ceiling as a large reflector. This approach provides a bright ceiling void of light fixtures and their high elevation maintenance challenges. An under slab low-volume displacement ventilation air distribution system is utilized for conditioning the large volume lobby area. The transaction counters within the lobby serve as air distribution points, thus eliminating any exposed ductwork with the lobby space.

As the building construction occurred during the COVID-19 pandemic, revisions were incorporated into the final design to increase safety for employees and customers. Improvements include fixed glass partitions at the transaction counters, redesigned testing counters to provide greater separation between staff positions, and added exterior public seating areas.