GWINNETT COUNTY, GA
The one-story, 45,000-square-foot Police Annex and E-911 Center construction began in September 2008 and was completed in November 2009. Competitive market conditions permitted the County to reduce the original total project budget from $20 million to $18.7 million.
“The police annex will provide Gwinnett County with a state-of-the-art facility that will serve the County well for the many years to come,” said Commission Chairman Charles Bannister. “The relocation of the 911 center and its personnel from police headquarters will make room for more law enforcement operations to occupy the extra space.”
The building and associated parking will accommodate 180 employees and was designed to meet standards for hardened facilities using guidelines from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA 361). The pre-cast concrete was a natural envelope material for accommodating facility hardening required by FEMA 361.
While the project was not required to have LEED certification, the design team, led by architect Michael Katzin of HOK (Hellmuth, Obata and Kassabaum, Inc.), used a sustainable design approach to provide an environmentally-responsible facility. Some of the sustainable design approaches for this project included minimized site disturbance and light pollution, water-efficient landscaping, low VOC materials, low-flow plumbing fixtures and digital HVAC controls.