Located in North Central Texas, just east of Dallas, Mesquite’s previous police station was built in 1960 when there were approximately 27,500 residents. Today, there are 136,750. To accommodate the growing need for police services, the city commissioned Brinkley Sargent Architects, Dallas, to design a new state-of-the-art Mesquite Police Station. The resulting 90,000-square-foot (8,361-m2) building was completed in December 2008 and includes top-notch security features, an emergency operations center, property and evidence area, a high-tech briefing room, space for officers to work comfortably and room for the department to grow into.
NOW Specialties, Carrollton, Texas, fabricated and installed 11,200 square feet (1,040 m2) of 0.16-inch (4-mm) Reynobond Aluminum Composite Material, PE Core in Bright Silver Metallic with a Colorweld 300XL finish from Eastman, Ga.-based Alcoa Architectural Products for the exterior façade and soffits. The design called for large panels laid on the horizontal, some as long as 215 inches
(5,461 mm), requiring NOW Specialties to use their biggest machine for the panel fabrication. An 85-foot (26-m) boom lift was used to install panels at the highest points of the structure, due to the site’s varied topography. All of the ACM panels were installed using NOW’s 3100 dry system attachment method. Lee Lewis Construction, Dallas, was the general contractor.
The architect’s design for the footprint of the building utilized the site’s varied topography, placing the public entrance at street level and staff entrances at lower grades. This delineation of public and private spaces is carried through the layout of each floor as public and private zones are established beyond secure areas. Floor plans were developed with efficiency in mind-the lobby features separate windows for records, alarm permits, desk officers and expeditors to assist the public in a central location. Officer workstations form the heart of the building in an area open to the third floor ceiling. The emergency ops center, administrative offices, criminal investigations, gym and break room are on the top floors. Both juvenile and adult jails are housed in the basement, with a secure booth-operated port that allows officers to bring suspects directly into the jail area.
Alcoa Architectural Products., www.alcoaarchitecturalproducts.com
