A multi-function campus for the Edmonton Police Service (EPS)
Teeple Architects
Education
/
Completed
The core inspiration for the Northwest Campus project was the Edmonton Police Service’s (EPS) decision to integrate, for the first time, previously dispersed functions in a single, community-focused facility. The intent of the design was both to provide EPS with the infrastructure it needs to deliver its mission and to physically express and advance the core values of EPS – integrity, accountability, respect, innovation, courage and community. The building’s dynamic, organic form and spatially interconnected organization capitalize on an unprecedented opportunity to infrastructurally support EPS in building strong relationships among previously disparate internal functions, while creating a dynamic yet welcoming and secure interface with the wider community.
The building is located on the northwest edge of Edmonton, Canada, adjacent a ring highway encircling the city. The facility was conceived as a civic focal point, physically expressing EPS’s forward-thinking values by creating positive relationships within a new community and shaping connections beyond. The architecture creates a transparent and welcoming public front, a dynamic gateway into the city from the north, an animated streetface for new public roads, and a visible relationship to the adjacent highway and city beyond. In contrast to the typical North American siting of police buildings behind large parking lots, the building mass was shifted to the street edge, creating an urban and accessible frontage while allowing the building to integrally frame a large secure court.
Both environmental and social sustainability were foundational drivers of the design. Geared toward energy efficiency in a cold climate, the building is detailed with a high-performance rainscreen assembly featuring continuous outboard insulation and a distinctive standing seam metal cladding on thermally broken clips. High-performance curtain wall and HVAC systems complement the envelope strategy. Maximizing the facility’s beneficial impact on the wellbeing of both EPS’ members and recruits as well as members of the community required careful and creative spacing planning to create bright and welcoming spaces while balancing rigorous security requirements.
The project establishes a multi-function campus for the Edmonton Police Service (EPS) and presents a formal alternative to traditional police facility design. The facility collocates several of EPS’s key functions for the first time including: recruit and employee training for the entire Service, including classroom, training, simulation and administrative space; EPS’s information and records processing and management functions; a 60-cell temporary detention facility processing all initial arrests in the city; and a new local division station serving the northwest quadrant of the city, including a planned new surrounding neighbourhood. The core urban design and spacing planning challenge was to create a welcoming public face and workspace while hosting a variety of sensitive programs requiring high degrees of physical security – including an exterior court to accommodate police vehicles and detainee transport vehicle arrivals. Inside, a double-height circulation spine creates a welcoming public lobby and open connections among the key staff programs in the building – actively encouraging interaction and collaboration among Service members. Material choices and planning balance the need for privacy and security while maintaining a bright, collaborative work environment and community interface. Building siting was used as the primary means of establishing a secure perimeter, minimizing the need for unwelcoming secure fencing and other barriers.
Teeple's design process focuses on establishing a dialogue between designers, clients, and consultants. For EPS, they worked diligently to understand and incorporate the City of Edmonton's and Edmonton Police Service's wishes into their design. They reflected both our needs and our aspirations into the design.
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View from southeast: The dynamic building form reaches out toward the nearby ring road highway, a beacon signaling connection with the community and city beyond.
Andrew Latreille Photography
Main lobby: the warm tones of the angled acoustic wood panels reflect EPS’s community-focused values and signal key adjacent collaborative learning and work spaces.
Andrew Latreille Photography
View of lobby from main entry: The building’s common circulation was shaped to maximize visual connection and intuitive navigation between different functions.
Andrew Latreille Photography
Collaboration area: Informal gathering spaces were strategically distributed along circulation routes throughout the facility, maximizing opportunities for EPS members to form social connections.
Andrew Latreille Photography
View from collaboration area: The building’s organic form shapes bright and highly interconnected shared spaces, physically drawing members together in a shared service and learning community.
Andrew Latreille Photography
A new civic anchor: the building form organically frames a public forecourt and marks both a gateway into the city from the north as well as a focal point for a planned new neighbourhood.
Andrew Latreille Photography
Gateway moment: glazing integrated with a feature convenience stair wraps the building’s northeast corner, flowing into the facility’s urban forecourt.
Andrew Latreille Photography
Northeast corner: solid cladding sweeps up to make way for two-storey curved curtain wall glazing marking the building’s primary public function – a new community division station.
Andrew Latreille Photography
A deliberate geometry: curving, angular planes stretch apart and converge, organically opening at moments of transparency.
Andrew Latreille Photography
Training wing: the building’s curvilinear roof provides a unifying form and creates natural sheltered areas at key building entry and exit points.
Andrew Latreille Photography
Stretching geometry: standing seam metal cladding emphasizes the dynamic curves of the building form and contrasts positively with the warmth of abundant glazing and warm interior materiality.
Andrew Latreille Photography
A Prairie form: The facility’s low, stretched form evokes the subtle beauty of the surrounding landscape of central Alberta.
Andrew Latreille Photography
CONTEXT DIAGRAM: The building deliberately frames and forms urban connections while naturally framing both a welcoming public forecourt and large secure court.
Teeple Architects
SITE PLAN: in contrast to typical practice, the building mass was deliberately shifted toward the street, creating an urban and accessible frontage while allowing the building to integrally frame required secure outdoor areas.
Teeple Architects
LEVEL 1 PLAN: The main level integrates public access to the new division station alongside training, bullpen, records management, and temporary detention programs. Staff areas are knitted together with an open and intuitive double-height circulation spin
Teeple Architects
LEVEL 2 PLAN: Level 2 accommodates training, bullpen, records management and staff amenity functions. Focal point collaboration areas are integrated into shared circulation, enjoying generous views and connections to public and campus lobby spaces below.
Teeple Architects
ROOF PLAN: The building’s roof is its unifying element, resolving complex functional integration as a single fluid form.
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ELEVATIONS: On public frontages, standing seam roof transitions seamlessly to wall, emphasizing a unified form. Sloped and profiled grey-tinted precast panels are employed at facades addressing secure staff areas.
Teeple Architects
ELEVATIONS: On public frontages, standing seam roof transitions seamlessly to wall, emphasizing a unified form. Sloped and profiled grey-tinted precast panels are employed at facades addressing secure staff areas.
Teeple Architects
Early Preliminary Concept Diagram: Urban connections
Teeple Architects
Early Preliminary Concept Diagram: Integral space making + urban connections
Teeple Architects
Circulation Axonometric: The building’s many functions are knit together by an organic network of shared circulation and social space.
Edmonton
Canada
City of Edmonton / Edmonton Police Service
Police Services Training Campus
10/2020
16750 mq
Confidential
Teeple Architects (Design Architect); Arcadis (formerly IBI Group) (Architect of Record)
Teeple Architects – Stephen Teeple, Avery Guthrie, Rob Cheung, Richard Lai, Richard Lam, Eric Boelling, Bernard Jin, Mahsa Majidian, Aidan Mitchelmore, James Janzer, Ali Taha, Polly Auyeung Arcadis (IBI Group) – Peter Bull, Peter Semchuk, Brad Kimball, Noel Vilamitjana, Heidi Zayachkowski, France Béland
PCL Construction
Structural – Protostatix ; Mechanical – WSP; Electrical – WSP; Civil – Arcadis | IBI Group; Landscape – Arcadis | IBI Group; Building Code – GHL; Cost – Tech Cost; Geotech – Tera Tech; Building Envelope Consultant – WSP; Acoustic Consultant – ACI Acoustical Consultant; Sustainability Consultant – WSP
Glazing – Alberta Glass / Pilkington / Kawneer; Standing Seam Cladding – Imetco; Precast Concrete Cladding – Eagle Builders; Interior Acoustic Wood Panels - Eomac
Andrew Latreille Photography
Curriculum
Teeple Architects (Design Architect) shapes buildings through an open, collaborative process rooted in curiosity and pragmatic optimism. Founded in 1989 in Toronto, Canada, the firm has built a reputation for design excellence and leadership through a broad range of acclaimed institutional, commercial and residential projects. The practice integrates sustainability and technical expertise with formal exploration to create buildings that embody and activate the dynamism of the communities they serve. The firm’s work has been recognized internationally and nationally, including six Governor General’s Medals for Architecture (Canada’s highest architectural honour), six AIA awards, a Holcim Award for sustainable innovation, and four Innovation in LEED® Awards, and have been recognized by The Plan Awards three times.
