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THA Architecture principal Charles Dorn learned a lot about life on the margins between two countries while traveling last fall and winter along the U.S. borders with Canada and Mexico.

Dorn visited a series of border checkpoints for motorists, pedestrians and bicyclists in both the southern and northern U.S. as part of the Portland firm’s contract with the U.S. General Services Administration to help improve the crossings.

鈥淓very one is a story,鈥� he said. 鈥淚t was a lot of driving 鈥� thousands of miles of driving. A lot of people here thought it was a hardship. Frankly, it was enlightening.鈥�

Dorn and other firm staffers were tasked with providing design expertise for way-finding and signage upgrades at 17 U.S. border checkpoints. To inform this feedback, he felt it was important to experience in person the regions surrounding the checkpoints THA was contracted to work on in Vermont, New York, North Dakota, Idaho, Washington, Montana, California, Texas and New Mexico.

鈥淭he most fascinating thing is visiting all these communities,鈥� Dorn said.

This is one of the best approaches an architect can take to working on border crossing upgrades, said Ramon Riesgo, GSA director of projects for the 47 checkpoints the federal agency operates along the border between the U.S. and Mexico. The GSA also manages 121 other checkpoints, known as land ports of entry, along the Canadian border.

鈥淵ou have to understand the community,鈥� Riesgo said. 鈥淓very land port of entry is different because of the community.鈥�

Since 1999, the GSA has invested heavily in various technology and security upgrades to aging and increasingly trafficked border crossings on both sides of the country as well as renovations and replacement projects. The agency has called on architecture firms like THA through its to assist with these projects and find ways to make the checkpoints more efficient, including meeting Leadership in Energy & Environmental Design certification requirements.

Approximately 290,000 cars, 25,000 trucks and 114,000 pedestrians pass through the U.S.’s northern and southern border checkpoints each day, Riesgo said.

鈥淥ur land ports of entry are pretty busy,鈥� he said. 鈥淲hen you look at a land port of entry you have to look at it as an element of a transportation-wide system between two countries. The border in the last 20 years has become a large economic engine.鈥�

But the average checkpoint was built more than 40 years ago, and many need to be brought up to current standards, Riesgo said.

鈥淎 lot of them were built in a different era with different needs in terms of security and in terms of trade,鈥� he said. 鈥淲e had to invest in making the ports of entry more efficient and also (meet) the enhanced need for new technology.鈥�

The projects often come with a range of challenges, including extreme climate conditions and remote locations, Riesgo said. Designing improvements to border crossings also involves careful consideration of the dynamics of border regions, he said. Security concerns, the needs of nearby communities in both countries and the economic impacts of commerce and tourism travel across the border all factor into the design decisions.

鈥淲orking at the border, you have to be flexible, you have to have initiative and you have to be multitalented,鈥� Riesgo said.

Dorn said he approached THA’s border crossing projects with interest because it differs greatly from the firm’s other work.

鈥淚t’s a weird project for an architect,鈥� he said. 鈥淚t’s definitely expanding outside the comfort zone of the architects. There are issues related to the demographics. It’s a transportation-oriented design problem that we’re not usually accustomed to.鈥�

THA’s work on border crossings dates back to 1995, when the firm designed a to the Pacific Highway Port of Entry in Blaine, Wash. The project was completed in 2000.

More recently, THA staffers completed a master plan and design for a at the Juarez-Lincoln Land Port of Entry in Laredo, Texas to accommodate an increased amount of bus traffic passing through the checkpoint. GSA officials are in the process of hiring a general contractor for the project.

Last year, the GSA extended a contract with THA for the firm to assist installation of dynamic LED signage in English, Spanish and French at more border crossings following a successful pilot of the technology in Blaine.

Dorn said the project has involved figuring out the best way to move travelers through the checkpoints, such as adding lanes or more descriptive signage, based on the most common type of traffic passing over the border in that region. He quickly learned that factor varied greatly depending on the checkpoint’s location. One border crossing he visited was often used by Americans seeking medical treatment in Mexico while another primarily served diplomats and dignitaries. The Laredo bus processing facility THA designed will mostly serve Mexican workers traveling into the U.S. for temporary jobs while border crossings into Canada from Idaho and Montana are often used by tourists, Dorn said.

For all of the crossings, he strove to improve the visitor experience.

鈥淚t’s also a situation where most people are pretty tense,鈥� Dorn said. 鈥淭he idea is to make it a less stressful, a more humane approach.鈥�