City of Santa Monica, California
Public Safety Building
Santa Monica, CA
This four-story building integrates law enforcement and public safety functions into a vibrant civic center reinforcing pedestrian travel, creating outdoor places for employees and the public, defining the edges of the civic center, and upgrading the image of the city’s public facilities. The building accommodates headquarters for the police and fire departments, jail facilities, a state-of-the-art emergency operations center with a 911 communications system, a coordinated dispatch center for police and fire functions, and subterranean parking for official vehicles. It is a showpiece of sustainability, earning a LEED Silver rating.
“A significant achievement in response to site context and program. Public spaces treated with abundant daylight lend a community aspect to police services. The complex multifunction program is clearly organized, and the massing and architectural execution display a timeless building concept, an appropriate completion to the civic center.” AIA Academy of Architecture for Justice, Justice Facility Review - Citation for Excellence
Energy-saving measures implemented in Santa Monica’s LEED Silver Public Safety Building not only meet California’s Title 24 Energy Code - they also bring the building’s annual energy consumption far below annual consumption models. The Public Safety Building houses headquarters for the police and fire departments as well as jail facilities, a state-of-the-art emergency operations center, and a coordinated dispatch center consolidating police and fire functions. The structure delineates a corner of Santa Monica’s newly developing Civic Center District.
Santa Monica’s year-round moderate climate makes a natural-ventilation strategy viable for the entire building. Air is distributed through a raised access flooring system, with individually controlled outlets at each workstation. Individualized climate control is only one of many ways that the building’s design emphasizes occupant health and comfort. A large skylight and three-story atrium bring natural light into the center of the building. Computer-controlled lighting systems dim with the introduction of daylight or shut off when workspaces become vacant.
View LEED Points
- Police headquarters/detention facility
- Fire department headquarters
- Emergency operations center with 911 communications system
- Coordinated dispatch center for police and fire
- Underground parking for 100 official vehicles
Distinctions
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Citation for Excellence
AIA Academy of Architecture for Justice, Justice Facility Review
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Sustainability Award
Los Angeles Business Council
Credits
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Killefer Flammang Purtill Architects
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Assassi Productions
Publications
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Corrections Forum
City of Santa Monica, Public Safety Building
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LA Architect
Police Stations That Embrace Public Life