Harrogate Police Station Official Opening
Published: 18/05/12
Members of the public were given the opportunity to see inside the new, McBains Cooper-designed police station for North Yorkshire Police last week, ahead of it becoming fully operational on 17 May 2012.
The new £18 million landmark station on the outskirts of Harrogate replaces the authority’s previous 1930s-built base in the town centre. It will accommodate around 200 officers and includes a 16- cell custody block. The building took less than 15 months to construct and came in £2.8 million under the original budget.
With a raft of renewable technologies utilised, including air source heat pumps and photovoltaic panels, the building is set to achieve an ’Excellent’ rating under the Building Research Establishment Assessment Method (BREEAM).
The new building has three entrances – custodial, staff and public – each with a very distinct look and feel, forming a significant part of the design approach and arrangement.
The tight and complicated site presented certain logistical challenges, including a class B aquifer and a perimeter of protected mature trees, but by locating the custody element of the building below ground and within the landscape, the Police Authority has been given a naturally secure environment in which to operate.
During construction 20,000m3 of soil was removed and re-used elsewhere on the site, with the sub-soil being used on another nearby site. Excavated rock was crushed and used as aggregate.
McBains Cooper acted as architects, civil and structural engineers and BREEAM advisors and assessors on the scheme, with a shadow design team of architecture, mechanical and electrical engineering and civil and structural engineering.
For more images of the building, see our Facebook page or for video footage of the open day, see North Yorkshire Police's video Here
