This modern design by a Burlington-based firm supplanted a 1935 border station (a duplicate of FR10) that had become inadequate to the demands of Vermont's busiest Canadian border crossing. In place of a small three-lane facility in an open field there is now a gateway complex set across I-89. A long, narrow main block, defined by cut limestone walls, rises in profile from south to north, paralleling the interstate's northbound lanes. Drivers from Canada are directed by a low semicircular projection with a canted curtain wall to a sleek canopy supported on angled piloti that crosses the highway to an earth-bermed administration unit also clad in limestone. The canopy provides covering for five inspection bays with canary-yellow booths, whose bright color adds a friendly note to the serious business of border crossing. Though decried by some as abandoning traditional regional forms, the limestone and the grassy berm are clear allusions to the Vermont landscape. With its sophisticated geometries and modern vocabulary, the architecture of the border station accords well with the General Services Administration's Design Excellence Program and received a citation from the Vermont Chapter of the American Institute of Architects (AIA) in 2000.
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United States Border Station
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