Leon County & City of Tallahassee Public Safety Complex
Ajax completed the Leon County and City of Tallahassee Public Safety Complex, a flexible forward-thinking facility that houses many key emergency agencies in one central 100,000 square-foot location. The PSC was dedicated with a ceremonial first call, ribbon cutting and tours. The $29.9 million facility will become the new home to the Consolidated Dispatch Agency, Leon County Emergency Medical Services, Tallahassee Fire Department Administration, the City of Tallahassee Regional Transportation Management Center and the Leon County Emergency Operations Center. The main facility was built to withstand a F4 Tornado with 200+ MPH winds and the Logistics building was built to withstand winds from a Category 3 hurricane. The PSC during normal business hours will house about 150 employees, but during emergencies can accommodate 350 to 400 people. Ajax and Construction Support Southeast, a joint venture, comprised the construction management team. During construction, approximately 86% of the construction dollars were kept within the local economy with over 25% completed by certified Minority Business Enterprises or Women-Owned Enterprises. An average of 150 people worked on-site each day during construction.
Key elements of the PSC include:
- The building was designed to meet Department of Defense anti-terrorism standards and FEMA 361 tornado shelter requirements.
- The buildings were constructed with ICF (Insulated Concrete Forms), structural steel, and concrete floors on metal deck.
- The exterior is brick masonry and cast stone.
- The windows on the facility are hurricane resistant glass in aluminum frames.
- A raised floor system sits 16 inches above the slab to allow for future flexibility and ease of installation of electrical, computer, data systems, as well as the return airflow.
- The majority of the interior walls in the main building are modular and can be easily dismantled and reconfigured as is all the integrated and modular furnishings.
- Lighting is controlled by motion sensors, including on all desktop office equipment and task lighting
- Energy-efficient cooling is done using overhead chilled beams, a process which involves passing air over a chilled water coil to provide comfortable temperatures, supplemented by air flowing from an air handling system.
- This reduces the energy requirement to move air in the building by 75%.
- A two-story-high Control Center accommodates the traffic system monitoring function, a joint effort of the City of Tallahassee and the State Department of Transportation.
- The total cost of the PSC was $47.5 million, which included construction, information technology expenditures and furnishings, and was split by the City of Tallahassee and Leon County governments.
“Ajax finished this project on time and under budget — a testimonial to good management,” commented Tallahassee City Manager, Anita Favors Thompson, in helping to dedicate the facility. “We couldn’t have put together a better team for this project,” added Leon County Administrator Vince S. Long.
sectors
Client
Leon County & City of Tallahassee<
Location
Tallahassee, FL
Architect
AECOM, Clemons Rutherford & Associates
SF
100,000