Commerce City, Colorado
The Adams County Communication Center (Adcom) is an essential services building which is operational 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Their existing facility was overcrowded, inefficient and no longer able to accommodate the need for a growing staff. The lack of adequate space and natural light and outdated environmental systems was not conducive to a comfortable environment which is needed for the public safety dispatchers that have a high stress job.
The design includes an addition as well as a remodel to the existing facility in order to accommodate current and future needs. The addition added 6,545 sf to the existing 8,720 sf. Our main goal was to create a pleasant and safe environment for the dispatchers.
In order to keep attention away from the facility for safety reasons, the exterior is a simple palette of grey concrete block with an unpretentious linear strip window on the front facade and subtle details indicating entry and circulation.
On the contrary, the interior is bright and airy with high ceilings and clerestory lighting. The common area, the main gathering space, connects the support rooms such as the kitchen, restroom and lockers to the administration area and the dispatch area. Above the common area, a 30’ atrium space rises out from the building. This atrium space provides both direct and indirect light into all parts of the building. A window wall along the west side of the dispatch area allows for natural light from the atrium to flood into the dispatch area as well as views to the common area and beyond to the outside. Materials such as wood, carpet, slate and cork create a warm comfortable space. Bamboo trees growing in the atrium bring the natural outdoors inside the building.
This project was designed by Jennifer Brodie while she was a Project Manager at Roth + Sheppard Architects.
