The Dallas Metroplex is one of the fastest growing population centers in the U.S. As the city grows in area and population, so too do the surrounding towns and communities. The suburb of Lancaster, for example, has more than tripled its population since 1970, expanding from approximately 10,500 people to an estimated 35,000 in 2007.
The increase in population brings greater needs for infrastructure and public services. It was apparent to the city leaders that vital services such as police and fire needed to grow in size and efficiency. With the community riding a wave of momentum into the future, it was time to think about a new headquarters for Lancaster’s public safety staff.
After putting out a request for proposal, the city of Lancaster chose to work with Perkins+Will on the design of their new building. “The city knew it needed a new public safety building,” recalls Kent Pontious, AIA, associate with the Dallas office of Perkins+Will and project manager on the Lancaster Public Safety Building. “Lancaster had completely outgrown the old public safety building. Part of the roof had collapsed and it just wasn’t suiting the community’s needs.”
“The building is an amalgamation of operational police and fire stations, police and fire administrative headquarters, an emergency operations center and 911 call center for the city of Lancaster,” explains Nick Seierup, FAIA, design director of the Los Angeles office of Perkins+Will. “All those departments had been scattered around in old, problematic buildings around the city. Consolidating these city services under one roof for the first time and building the support and consensus between the various constituencies was a big part of the role of the architects on this project.”
City On the Grow
Though the need for the new headquarters was obvious, the form the building would take was not. The city had no preconceived concept, so the design team had the opportunity to set the tone. In a community that long had thought of itself as a small, rural town, making the leap to a cutting-edge, forward-looking design was something of a stretch.
“For years, Lancaster was this sleepy little town in the country, but in the past 10 or 20 years, Dallas has grown right up to it,” Pontious explains. “As people move out of the city, this has become one of the suburbs, so you have older, conservative country-type residents living side-by-side with a younger, suburban crowd.”
“The city is in transition and is growing, moving from a fairly conservative, older population to a much more dynamic, younger population. That movement filters into the political system and the people involved in this project,” Seierup says. “The result was they embraced a fresh new look to the building, which would be representing the city.”
Although it is the design of the building that really grabs attention, this project truly was an example of form following function. “Given that the building is the home of the police and fire departments, there needed to be a level of security,” recalls Seierup. “There needed to be a clearly defined public side and a clearly defined secure side, so we were able to relocate the site and went through a series of exercises exploring different ways to put the fire department and the police department under one roof. Each department would have its own identity, but synergies could develop by having fire and police offices in contact with each other.”
In working out ways to accomplish the city’s goals for the space, the design began to take a distinctive shape. The police department resides in one leg, the fire department in the other and the joint between them houses the administrative and shared spaces. From this basic shape, the notion of a flying roof that covers the joint and projects out toward the highway started to develop.
“There are several different kinds of metal used on the building, and the block work was intended to hearken to some of the other structures in the park, such as the library and community center, which use similarly colored blocks,” Seierup continues. “The metal elements were used to separate the new structure and let the building stand out with its own identity. The flat metal defines the entry to the building and symbolically joins the police and fire departments. And the corrugated metal is used to set off certain parts of the building from the block work that is connected back to the other buildings.”
Yes We Cantilever
Creative use of metal allowed the design team to create a striking visual impression. “The metal all went together very well,” Pontious says. “The one challenge was that the cantilevered section is metal clad and cantilevers over 40 feet. There was going to be some deflection and vibration occurring. We used a dry-joinery panel system, which is basically an aluminum composite panel without the silicon joints, because that would accommodate the deflection more.”
“It is a very unique design with unique features,” says Charlie Goulding, president of Wexford, Pa.-based National Panel Systems Inc. “Many of the design elements, including the flying beam that extends out, are very conducive to metal. I think metal allowed the architects to have more freedom than other materials would have provided.”
The cantilever provides the most visually notable feature of the building. Making it look good, as well as function practically, took plenty of planning and effort on the part of the design and construction team.
“The structural engineer had to think outside the box and chose to use a post-tensioned, castellated beam, which is basically two W-shape beams connected by steel plates, top and bottom,” Pontious recalls. The post-tensioned tendons then were run through the ends to help with deflection. The whole assembly was erected in place on temporary shoring while all connections and welding were done. Then, when the shoring was removed and the cantilever deflected slightly, the contractor used the post-tensioning cables to bring it back level. Another interesting fact is the main cantilever is supported by another cantilever that extends to form the area where the police and fire chiefs’ offices are. The overall length of that main member is approximately 110 feet long. So structurally, doing a double cantilever was quite complicated, but we had a good structural engineer that was able to bring that detail to life.”
In any location, this feature would catch the eyes of passersby, but according to Seierup, there is a deeper local tie to the cantilever. “Texas has a rich legacy of what’s become known as the Texas front porch,” he explains. “This all-encompassing, projecting element under which one can sit provides some sense of enclosure and protection, but allows you to engage with life outside the building. In an abstract way, this projecting roof that unifies the police and fire departments also serves as a forward-looking manifestation of that traditional Texas front porch. So it invokes a new way of working with the architectural language in use in that part of the world.”
On a project intended to draw visual attention, special emphasis had to be placed on getting everything to fit together perfectly. Fortunately, the installers stepped up to the plate. “Jobs that have integrated metal at many different locations—be it soffits, above and below windows or the wide beam fascias—force quality of installation in terms of the interface between metals and other materials,” Goulding says. “That kind of detail was the biggest challenge. The designers were using metal in an aesthetic manner, which means they were looking for a very high quality installation. Things being out of line or not matching up would not stand on this project.”
Point of Pride
As well as being pleasing to the eye, the Lancaster Public Safety Building was designed to be pleasing to the environment. Although the city opted not to pursue LEED certification from the Washington, D.C.-based U.S. Green Building Council, the facility was designed with many of those principles in mind.
“The building was sited at the optimum solar angle to make extensive use of natural light,” Pontious explains. “Glazing allows light to come deep into the building. We used a white cool roof and many of the materials themselves, including the metal, contain extensive recycled content. We used low-flow fixtures for water savings and specified low-VOC materials.”
The combination of an eco-friendly, healthy and welcoming interior and a visually striking exterior has proven to be a big hit in this growing community. “The community loves it, which was gratifying, considering the mix between the young and the more conservative crowds,” Pontious admits. “But everyone bought into the design—especially the cantilever. The community actually protected it. We were a little over-budget at bid time and the contractor immediately pointed to the cantilever to save money, but the council protected that element. It turned out to be a great project and everyone in Lancaster is very proud of it.”