Divisional Police Headquarters
Rochdale
Seven were appointed in June 2008, via the Greater Manchester Police framework, as lead designers for this redevelopment and refurbishment scheme.
The Seven team demonstrated a willingness to challenge the conclusions of a previous report which included proposals to over-clad the existing Portland stone. They considered a series of options for the single-storey Custody Suite and property/facilities extensions required at the time, helping the client to assess the most suitable solution to take forward.
Site and wider urban analysis established that this important public building was suffering a degree of anonymity, both in its relationship to the Town Hall square and adjacent Memorial Gardens, but also with the arterial vehicular approach route.
In order to re-establish visual connectivity with the civic quarter, and together with a comprehensive Portland stone cleaning programme being agreed, a new 'vertical extension' was designed which will act as a beacon to define the main entrance. Agreement was reached with the council that they would carry out a landscape improvement scheme in Memorial Gardens, including the removal of several self-seeded trees.
The 1960's building will be stripped back to its concrete frame and undergo a complete transformation to provide new facilities fit for the 21st Century. The removal of an unsympathetic and space-hungry single-storey garages and workshops building and its replacement with another 'vertical extension' on the opposite five-storey gable will help to re-define the building from the vehicular approach side.
Seven are making the most of relatively shallow plan depths by making spaces open-plan wherever possible and are overcoming the constrained floor to floor heights by introducing a fully integrated linear feature services ceiling which defines a circulation route and allows maximum ceiling heights elsewhere.
The team developed a thorough understanding of how the building works in both a physical and operational sense. By gaining this insight through investigation and consultation, they have been able to devise not only detailed final solutions, but also a series of strategic phased moves which will enable the clients to achieve this end-goal whilst remaining fully operational 24/7.
The building is being designed to achieve a BREEAM 'Very Good' rating, with solar thermal water systems, natural ventilation, high levels of thermal insulation, an efficient boiler system and lighting modelling all contributing to the scoring.