North Kent Police Station, Northfleet, United Kingdom

Thames Gateway Police Station leads the way in energy efficiency
The 11,500 m2, four-storey landmark building includes 40 cells, conference rooms, restaurants, separate public and custody entrances and a new crime scene investigation garage.

The scheme features a number of ‘green’ technologies, including an innovative geothermal heating and cooling solution, reducing the building’s carbon footprint by 32 tonnes and making great energy savings.

The building is heated and cooled using a ground source heat pump system. The system circulates water through pipes which have been embedded in the structural concrete piles. These are further supplemented by remote geothermal piles located in the car park that extend to a depth of approximately 100m. The geothermal system will achieve at least 30% in overall energy savings, equating to around £18,000 per year.

Solar shading is provided to the southerly façade by means of brise soliel. The biggest area of glazing faces north which provides consistent external light and temperature to the offices.

The flat roof is being used for collecting rainwater for use in flushing the office block toilets.

The key feature of the building is the 80 metre long central atrium known as the ‘Street’. The building also comprises a two-storey custody block and a four-storey, 80m X 15m glazed office block.

The consortium working on the project includes Justice Support Services North Kent Ltd, comprising Reliance Secure Task Management, Bank of Scotland Corporate and the Kier Project Investment Ltd.

This is McBains Cooper’s fifth police PFI project with Reliance including the award-winning Gloucestershire Police Headquarters building.

McBains Cooper invited Glenn Howells Architects to work with them from conception stages. Glenn Howells Architects was responsible for developing the building concept and external envelope whilst McBains Cooper, with their in-depth knowledge of police buildings, developed the internal arrangements and adjacencies of the many departments and custodial suite

source: www.worldarchitecturenews.com
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