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AAJ Conference - Law Enforcment Track - Day 2
Greetings!
Today was my first full day of seminars and a busy day it was.  I will try to give just a brief rundown of the day's events in this post to give you a taste of the conference and hopefully delve into some deeper thoughts after the conference. 
    The morning started off with an outstanding presentation by James Aguilar, AIA (Stantec Architecture), Russel McElroy, AIA (McClaren, Wilson, & Lawrie Architects), and Michael Moxam,OAA, Intl. Assoc. AIA (Stantec Architecture).  The seminar was entitled Forensic Science Facilities, "When a Laboratory is Not a Laboratory", and I was very curious to hear about this unfamiliar (at least to me) building type.  After the presentation began, I quickly realized that the forensic laboratory was an extremely complex building type with a variety of essential requirements that must be met in order to create a succesful and functional project.  Maintaining the chain of custody for evidence, essentially preventing contamination and ensuring the integrity of the evidence, both programatically and systematically is paramount as it is the primary function of the lab. Add to that the specialized equipment and environmental conditions (light levels, positive/negative air pressure), varied group of users (law enforement, scientists, technicians), and desire for sustainability and you have quite a project type.  

    The second session of the day was lead by Brandon Anderson, AIA and Kelly Smith, AIA of Roth Sheppard Architects, and it was entitled Evolution of a Design: Prototypes - Police Stations. I found this presentation particularly interesting as the focus was on developing a "brand" or "icon" for Colorado State Patrol stations. The idea of creating a standard style for a building that would appear in many different locations of varying topography and context was something that left me a bit uncomfortable.  However as the presentation went on I soon began to understand the goal of the project(s). The idea wasn't to create one building and simply "cookie cutter" it around the state of Colorado, but rather it was to develop a kit of parts that could efficiently and economically be assembled in ways that allowed the building to not only be function succesfully, but also be recognizable.  

    At lunch, the conference was very lucky to have the Chief Justice of California the Honorable Tani Cantil-Sakauye speak and give her thoughts on many of the issues that concern designers in today's Justice field.  The economic challenges that face the State of California was a main topic of discussion, as well as the oportunities, yes opportunities, that the financial crisis has brought about.  The Chief Justice also discussed where she envisions court design going in the future.  I don't have the exact quote, but I know I liked her thought.  Technologically advanced but still conducive to the human element.   There are plenty more thoughts and discussion points that came from this talk and I will be posting some of them on the AIA AAJ discussion board to hopefully get some of your thoughts.

    The afternoon concluded with two more sessions.  The first was a true panel discussion on the topic of Accessibility for Justice Facilities.  The panel consisting of Rod Higgins from the California Department of the State Architect, Eric Sifuentes (Nacht & Lewis) and Lorenzo Lopez, AIA (Nacht & Lewis) discussed common code issues that often cause confusion and pose problems in justice facilities.  Things like path/route of travel, and no path and route are not the same thing in the eyes of the California Building Code, ramps, handrails, countertops, and owner responsibility when it comes to accessibility compliance all were discussed at length.  The main point I came away with however from this presentation wasn't a dimension or a code section, it was the need to have an open and honest dialogue with code officials early in the design process.  By establishing a dialogue questions can be answered and costly design changes can be avoided.

    The afternoon concluded with a presentation the included two case studies of urban police facilities. Tom Kyle, OAA and Michael Moxam, OAA, Int. Assoc. AIA from Stantec Architecture discussed a project they designed, theToronto Police Service Division 11 station.  The station is a wonderful example of engaging the public and creating a police station that really is for the community.  By combining an existing historic school building, which is a landmark for the area, with a sleek new building that embraces the concept of transparency, the design allows the public and the surrounding community to feel a sense of connection with the local law enforcement.  
    
    The second case study was the New York Police Department's Central Park Precinct, and it was presented by Fred Basch, AIA (Fred Basch Architect) and Christopher Gembinski (Building Conservation Associates, Inc).  This project consisted of the renovation, conservation, and expansion of the current precinct which aside from being in a state of total disrepair, had a huge set of design challenges. Although roughly half the size of typical precincts built in New York today,this project was by no means simple.  First it is in the middle of Central Park.  Second, the precinct consists of several historic buildings that were designed for functions not conducive to a law enforcement program at all.  Lastly, there was an incredible amount committees and agencies that had a say in how this project should have been handled.  However, despite all of these challenges the design team was still able to create an elegant and succesful design solution that is true to both the history and function of the building.

     The day concluded with the Justice Facility Review awards dinner and panel discussion.  This was a unique opportunity to not only view award winning projects, but also hear the perspective of the jury that selected the projects thought to be worthy of recognition.  I know this is a generic post, however I hope to provide more detailed thoughts and insights at the end of the conference.  Thanks and as always feel free to comment or ask questions.  Don't forget to follow me on twitter @Chris_Hirai for tweets and info through out the rest of the conference!
Created By: Christopher Hirai, Assoc. AIA On: Fri, Nov 04, 2011 03:05 AM

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