Answers to Facility Issues: A Closer Look: The Phoenix Forensic Facility
By: Ken Mohr and Travis Krick
Issue: October/November 2006
Untitled Document
A Closer Look: The Phoenix Forensic Facility
The Facility
Imagine having a new 100,000 sq. ft forensic facility under construction and
three months ahead of schedule, but still needing to borrow space from the
County Medical Examiner. Now, picture the possibility of catching up on several
years of backlog with a full staff of forensic scientists, sworn, and non-sworn
personnel. What would that be like?
The City of Phoenix Police Department will soon know first hand. Their new,
$34.6 million, 104,000 sq. ft forensic facility is 50 percent complete and
set to open in June 2007. The facility is planned to operate around the clock,
with 140 to 150 staff working in three shifts. The new three story, “L” shaped
structure will give the City of Phoenix five times its current 19,000 sq. ft
located in the basement of the Police Headquarters. Laboratory space will be
organized in one wing, with office space in the other.
The new facility will
house state-of-the-art laboratories with emergency showers and examination
rooms, training areas, evidence and supply storage, OSHA-approved chemical
storage, and space to accommodate public tours. There will be a ballistic
testing and pattern determination range, as well as a forensic garage for vehicle
inspection
accommodating up to six vehicles. The Crime Scene Mobile Response Unit will
also call the new facility home and the staff will have the benefit of a modern
facility with computerized forensic databases to enhance criminal investigations
and to manage the custody of evidence.
The City of Phoenix Police Department
Forensic Facility provides an excellent example of how teamwork between city
and police administrators can culminate in a modern facility that is within
budget. Site selection at Phoenix brought city representatives and federal
judges together to address numerous site issues. During planning, police
administrators worked with users to meet their space needs within industry
guidelines. And
finally, the architect, engineers, laboratory planners, and contractors worked
hand-in-hand to plan a facility that is both cost effective and delivers
cutting edge technology. The team included Durrant, Harley Ellis Devereaux,
Crime Lab
Design, and Gilbane.
If you are considering planning or renovating your forensic facility, we hope
this case study will offer you lessons learned and serve as an example of the
type of outcome that is needed to meet present and future needs. In this article,
we give you a glimpse into Phoenix’s unique facility. Several aspects
of the 3,000 square foot Forensic Laboratory are highlighted and may help inform
your agency if faced with similar issues.
Inside the Forensic Laboratory
The primary goal for the City of Phoenix’s Forensic Laboratory was creating
an environment of flexibility within every aspect of the space and maximizing
future adaptability for the users. The design allows the director to not only
rearrange the current facility, but readapt it for a different use in the future.
By designing the lab while planning for future needs, the lab director achieves
the most out of his or her space. It also provides the director with the freedom
to reconfigure the lab at minimal or no cost. Part of the budget that previously
may have been needed to rearrange space is now available to keep current with
emerging technologies. Purchasing new equipment brings to light the importance
of moveable casework systems and the benefits it adds to the future use of
the laboratory environment.
A perfect example of how adaptability can affect
a lab is with the Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM) suite. If the suite
is designed solely for the use of an SEM with fixed casework, under floor utilities,
and a special structural system to mitigate vibrations, this limits the usefulness
of the spaces when the SEM is replaced. The new technology may require more
physical space, movable casework, and different services in a separate location
with no need for a restrictive vibration control. By allowing this same space
to be flexible and adaptable, not only have you met the needs of today but
you have also allowed for flexibility for the future. Now this suite can
accommodate
new equipment, additional people, and changing scientific methodologies.
In the past few years, the need for adaptable laboratories has been even
more apparent. Because of this need, there has been a steady increase in
this type
of design. In order to achieve this goal within the Phoenix Forensic Laboratory,
two major components were used: overhead service carriers (building infrastructure)
and move-able furniture (laboratory casework systems). These crucial aspects
of design became the building blocks by which this forensic laboratory was
assembled.
Overhead service carriers (OSC) are pieces of equipment that are
mounted to the ceiling and carry the service connections needed for each
location in the lab. The services available on these carriers include
electric, data,
gasses, exhaust, optional equipment, and even water. The OSC also brings
a mechanical, electrical, and plumbing advantage. They allow for all
of these
services to run through the ceiling, which makes them easily accessible
for repairs, expansion, and addition. When new services are needed in the OSC,
a contractor can easily get access into the ceiling and make the necessary
changes. If the design and planning process of the past were used, the
contractor
would need access into the wall or under the bench to remove casework and
run new services within the wall. This would require more time, labor,
and money
to accomplish the same task.
The Phoenix Forensic Lab was designed with
eleven work stations that consist of two moveable tables and an overhead
service carrier. If the item being examined in the work station is large, additional
tables
can be moved as needed to support the process. This also highlights the
advantage
of having adaptable casework. If this had been a laboratory made up of
fixed casework, an area would have been designed and dedicated for large
items,
resulting in wasted space when unused.
This example represents a traditional, "U"
shaped work bench. This type of design is
very limited: single user, single use.
This example shows the "U" shaped bench
designed for Phoenix. It is similar to the tradi-
tional "U," but is much larger allowing for
multiple users doing various functions.
This example depicts perimeter casework used
in the Phoenix Forensic Lab. This design
improves building efficiency and allows multi-
ple users to work along the perimeter, making
the room more flexible.
Another design feature of the Phoenix Forensic Lab is the perimeter casework.
A large portion of the room is lined in casework. By doing this, it allows
for permanent work stations, as well as room for expansion. In the past, “U” shaped
benches were used for all the workstations but this did not allow for future
employees to be added. By using linear casework,
it is possible to add multiple workers along the perimeter, all of which can
utilize the moveable tables within the center of the room. There are four “U” shaped
benches along one wall of the Phoenix Forensic Lab, but they are much larger
and allow for multiple users within one workstation.
As you can see from this conceptual floor plan of the Phoenix Forensic
Facility, it was designed in accordance to the National Institute of Justice
guidelines with a clear separation of laboratory and office space.
Safety within the laboratory environment is a key element in the Phoenix Forensic
Laboratory. By using moveable tables and OSCs, you can create open floor space
which is sometimes referred to as a “dance floor.” This allows
for several users to work within the space without jeopardizing safety. In
the case of an emergency, the dance floor provides easy navigation through
the space. Other safety features within the lab are eye wash stations and safety
showers. Each sink is equipped with an eye wash on a drench hose used to flush
out any impurities that come in contact with a user’s eye. These units
operate in a hands free mode and can be removed from their deck mounted position
to target a specific area. There is also a minimum of two safety showers on
each floor that are referred to as “combo units,” meaning they
are also equipped with an eye wash station.
Conclusion
Keeping an open mind to different design approaches is the most important lesson
learned by the City of Phoenix. Through each step of the project, the City
was confronted by traditional thinking versus new concepts. Pulling from
the best of both approaches will ultimately deliver innovation for today
and flexibility for tomorrow.
Ken Mohr is a Principal and Sr. Forensic Laboratory Planner with Crime Lab
Design, which provides full A/E services for forensic and medical examiner
facilities.
Travis Krick is a Forensic Laboratory Planner with Crime Lab Design.
He is currently working on numerous
forensic projects across the country forensic projects across the country.
For more info, please visit www.crimelabdesign.com.
