Design is almost complete on a new, 80,000-square-foot police headquarters for the city of Killeen, TX. PSA-Dewberry is serving as the architect/engineer for the $22-million facility, which will enable the city to consolidate its police operations from four scattered buildings into one location on a sloping 15-acre site in south Killeen.
The new headquarters is being designed to LEED® Silver standards and will allow for increased security for police personnel. The building will more than double the department's existing space, and will enhance staff productivity, training, and communications. The building will also include a large community room for public meetings and outreach efforts.
Designed to complement the rural setting—a former cattle ranch with grasslands and limestone outcroppings—the police station will be constructed of textured concrete, Lueders limestone, and metal panels. Angular, stone-clad forms will echo the limestone balcones, or overhangs, found throughout the region.
The building features a two-story, east-west spine that will house common staff areas, patrol, booking/holding, and investigations—all linked by a dramatic, sunlit, curving corridor. Three additional building sections radiate from the spine, including a three-story structure that will house the EOC, communications, records, the community room, the tech unit, special operations, personnel and training, a training room, and administration.
PSA-Dewberry's services, which include architecture, mechanical/electrical and structural engineering, interior design and furniture selection, and technology consulting, have followed a comprehensive study by the firm to review existing police force needs and operational goals.
Program elements include:
- A testing lab with an alternate light source room and powder room for latent/fingerprinting/ID analysis, as well as space and equipment for computer forensics and video enhancement
- A police emergency operations center that will serve as a back-up EOC to Killeen's City Hall location
- Back-up Public Safety Answering Point (PSAP) operations for the Bell County Communications Center
- Booking/processing
- Patrol space
- Special operations
- Training and personnel areas
- Youth Services Unit
- Tech unit
- Investigations
- Police records
- Communications
- Evidence processing
Sustainable design strategies will include a geothermal field HVAC system. PSA-Dewberry's previous work in police headquarters design includes the Jack Evans Police Headquarters in Dallas, which earned multiple awards and was the first LEED Silver project to be completed for the city. PSA-Dewberry also designed the new police headquarters in Moline, IL, which is pursuing LEED certification and recently earned an award for excellence in design from the Association of Licensed Architects.
Construction will begin soon and will be complete by mid-2009. Lee Lewis Construction provided preconstruction services and will serve as the construction manager-at-risk for the implementation phase.