The new 31,000-square-foot police headquarters for the City of Los Banos is located on a 4.7-acre site and consists of an emergency operations center and community room, a dispatch center, a processing and in-custody holding area, a property and evidence storage space, and a records room and detective area. It also includes a traffic division and code enforcement section, a physical training area and vehicle sallyport, a communications tower, and public and secured parking areas.
The single-story structure is framed with a metal deck roof over steel wide-flange joists and girders supported by steel columns. The exterior walls are tilt-up concrete panels and the structure is supported on conventional shallow concrete spread footings with a slab-on-grade. Cross-laminated timber (CLT) was used at the entry area upper roof to create a strong visual focal point at the entrance.
As the structural engineer for this design-build project, ZFA expedited the design of some time-critical elements, including structural steel and foundations, to assist with the procurement of materials and accelerate the construction schedule.