Bronx police station design revealed by Bjarke Ingels Group
By David Malone, Associate Editor
Bjarke Ingels Group (BIG) unveiled its design for a new 45,000-sf police station that will be located in the Bronx. The 40th Precinct station will be a ground-up project with an exterior that resembles a stack of bricks, a throwback to the origins of early “rusticated” New York City police stations.
In addition to being a throwback, this stacked brick style is also meant to enable “visual connections” within the building, with each block being arranged around a central atrium, Dezeen reports. Each of these bricks has been designed to contain a specific element of the internal program, creating a type of urban plan, not at the scale of a city, but at that of a building.
Despite its throwback to the police stations of yesteryear, the 40th Precinct building looks more like it is from the future than the past. The building will have an incredibly modern aesthetic while remaining highly functional. The new structure will also sport a feature that will be a first for a NYPD station: a green roof. The green roof is just one of the features designed with the environment in mind. The building will also feature non-reflective materials like sandblasted concrete in an effort to optimize the building’s energy performance and clerestory windows will help to bring natural light into the center of the building. BIG is predicting LEED Silver certification.
According to the firm, the interior of the station is “enhanced with amenities that encourage dialogue with the community while providing spaces for officers to reduce stress and promote physical activity.” Included in these amenities are an exercise courtyard and a climbing wall.
But if dialogue is what they want, this building can’t just be for New York’s finest. Therefore, it will also feature the first-ever community meeting room in a New York City police station. This space will be easily accessible from street-level with its own entrance and will also contain information kiosks and space for classes and events. The hope is that this area will help to encourage civil engagement with the precinct.
