Frederick County Public Safety Building
Winchester, VA

Frederick County selected HSMM and Howard Shockey & Sons, Inc., through the Public-Private Education Act (PPEA), to design and construct a 64,500-square-foot public safety building.  The facility will house the County’s sheriff, fire, and rescue departments; emergency operations center (EOC); and 9-1-1 emergency communications center (ECC).  The consolidated facility will be constructed on County-owned property.
 
HSMM held programming and design workshops with the sheriff, fire chief, and their respective staffs.  These workshops enabled a collaborative approach to determine the functional requirements of the new buildings.  As a result, the public entrance and lobby, community / training room, sheriff patrol functions, evidence and records areas, and other staff functions will be housed on the first floor.  This floor will also incorporate a secure vehicular sallyport, holding cells, and mechanical and electrical areas.  The second floor will house the sheriff administration, fire and rescue offices, EOC, 9-1-1 communications center, and staff support areas.

Separate parking areas for the public and staff are provided.  An ancillary building containing vehicle, forensic and maintenance bays, weapons and ammunition, and miscellaneous storage is also a part of this project.

A unique aspect of the communications center is its design to help dispatchers work in a less stressful environment – it will be built above-ground to make use of natural lighting. This emerging design trend increases dispatcher productivity.  The center will also exhibit 12- to 15-foot floating ceilings to control acoustics and provide clear sight lines across the dispatch room.   

Additionally, the building will offer features specified by the client to further develop a flexible, modern facility.  These features include media and library rooms; a large multi-purpose room; shared training areas; lockers; conference rooms; and storage areas.