Issue link: http://digital.canadawide.com/i/292860
Saskatoon Police Service Headquarters by Tiffany Sloan renderings courtesy cs&P architects W hen the Saskatoon Police Service headquarters was built in 1977, it was state- of-the-art, recalls deputy chief Bernie Pannell, "but we outgrew it shortly after it was built." Thirty-seven years later, it's woe- fully inadequate for both the number of officers and their modern policing methods. Evidence examination tech- niques, mandated training standards and evidence storage requirements have advanced dramatically in the last 30 years, and police services staff are required to analyze and store all manner of items, including DNA, for long periods of time. Female representation on the police force has also come a long way. "I'm not sure if they thought it would be a passing fad, but this building wasn't designed for female officers," says Pannell, not- ing that multiple renovations over the years have attempted to address the lack of facilities for women. One of the biggest issues, however, was security. The original headquar- ters was designed with the detention area on the second f loor in the mid- dle of the building; a walkway led to it from the lockup area at the back of the courthouse across the street. "It worked well for about five years while the courthouse was still being used," says Pannell. "Since it moved, it's become a problem for us because prisoners now have to be transported from our basement and travel up a very small elevator to the second floor" – a procedure that has led to security incidents in the elevator. As the Saskatoon Police Service grew, nearly doubling from 244 mem- bers to more than 400, every effort was made to adapt the building. "This build- ing has had three major renovations, but it was always still the same size," says Pannell. So when the City of Saskatoon gave the go-ahead on a new headquar- ters 10 years ago, the goal was to both consolidate and update the police service's facilities. Yet that is precisely what makes a law enforcement building so challeng- ing, explains Peter Ortved, principal w ith CS&P Architect s Inc. "Police buildings are complex design problems because they comprise so many func- tions – everything from standard office space to labs for crime scene evidence analysis, firing ranges for training, 911 call centres and holding areas for detainees." Josh de Nijs, EllisDon Corporation project manager, adds that such build- ings are challenging to construct. "The detention area has a lot of products and equipment that aren't typical, and we had to allow longer lead times for all the lab equipment and make sure that deliveries were all lined up." Today, the new four-storey head- quarters totals 390,000 square feet on a newly reclaimed site in the city's former warehouse district, and should serve the Saskatoon Police Service for the next 50 years. "It's bigger than we currently need," notes Pannell, pointing out that offices typically designed to accommodate 12 people may initially be occupied by just eight. The facilities can also accommodate an equal number of men and women, should the police force reach its goal of 47 per cent female membership. The detention centre is now located on the main floor, accessed via a secure sally port. A top-of-the-line video moni- toring system ensures the safety of the police officers as they deliver and collect detainees, and of the detainees while in the detention cells. The state-of-the-art forensics lab is equipped to analyze all manner of evidence samples, including DNA, and it was built to (though not officially certi- fied for) Containment Level 3 standards for labs that handle potentially infec- tious pathogens. Evidence storage will also move to a barcoding system. "The April 2014 /PB Saskatoon police Service Headquarters Do you have a project of interest to our readers? If you would like your project to be considered for a future issue of Award, please email: Dan Chapman, Publisher dchapman@canadawide.com AWD Project Filler 1/16 v. gs AWD Project Filler 1-16v. gs 6/3/08 3:22 PM Page 1 p54-57_Sask Police.indd 55 14-04-03 9:05 AM