Robert Libke Public Safety Building

Oregon City, Oregon

How do we design a public safety building that is both welcoming and secure?

A single-story public safety building at dusk is lit from within

We strive to design public projects that provide long-lasting value to our clients and the communities they serve. In the case of the Robert Libke Public Safety Building in Oregon City, we had the unique opportunity to provide added value by using mass timber as the primary building system and design driver.  This was in part possible because the building is a single-story on a large, open site. The result is a clean, simple massing with Cross-Laminated Timber (CLT) bearing shearwalls and a roof structure of glu-laminated (glulam) wood beams that were left exposed to the interior, adding warmth and beauty to the interior spaces.

The simple rectangular massing is “carved” into at various key places to create secure courtyards for staff with access to natural light and landscaped views. The interior spaces are divided along security needs and organized around collaboration spaces that encourage staff interaction. A clerestory through the police area’s long main hallway highlights primary circulation, bringing natural light deep into the interior of the building.

When we began the design process, our team conducted several workshops with police and courts staff to understand specifically how they work together and how their facility should support operations and reflect the organization. We then facilitated public engagement sessions to better understand residents’ views of their community and their public safety agency. Through these and other collaborative exercises, the team identified three key themes: Community, Security and Wellness.

We also knew the building and the site had important stories to tell. The public safety building, which is home to Oregon City’s Police Department, City Commission Council Chambers, Municipal Court and Courts Administration, bears the name of fallen Reserve Officer Robert Libke, who was killed in the line of duty in 2013. In addition, the City’s beloved Mt. Pleasant school had occupied the site for over 90 years, leaving lasting memories with generations of Oregon City residents. What was brought to light during these collaborative sessions represented residents’ and staff’s priorities in terms the new building’s legacy – Officer Libke’s memory, and the nod to the former school site. Here was the inspiration needed to design a facility that is uniquely representative of its community.

Year Completed:
2020
Size:
34,000 sf
Project Contact:
Ian Gelbrich, AIA
Partner, Market Lead
Recognitions:

Sustainable Forestry Initiative Award - Wood Design & Building Awards 2020

A large city council room with a wood ceiling and dais
Courtroom/Council Chambers
A rendering of a cross section of a courtroom
Courtroom Section Perspective

BUILDING MASSING

diagrams of a building's massing

People participating in a visioning session
Community Outreach
A watercolor rending of a building
Early Watercolor Rendering
A board with various images on it, designed to inspire ideas
Visioning Process
Mass timber building under construction
CLT Roof Installation
An open office with workstations and a beautiful wood ceiling
Open Office Area
A large police briefing room with rows of tables and chairs
Briefing Room
A large break room with tables, chairs, interesting light fixtures and a mass timber ceiling
Staff Breakroom with Connection to Briefing Room
A one-story police and courts building at dusk is lit from within
Public Entry
Two women standing in a lobby outside a city counsel chamber
Public Lobby
A man standing behind a dais, handing a woman a document
Dais
A police officer leans against the window, talking to a woman in the break room
Breakroom
Plaza and lawn in front of a one story police building
Bricks and the main entry window were salvaged from Mt. Pleasant School for a Memorial Wall and story-telling opportunity in the public plaza.

REMEMBERING SCHOOL DAYS

The design team worked closely with city staff and citizens to find ways to honor the Mt. Pleasant School that had occupied the site of the new public safety building for 90 years. While renovating the old structure itself was deemed infeasible for reuse as a resilient emergency response facility, there was a strong desire to preserve ‘a piece’ of the physical space.

Working within the overall design process for the building and site, FFA found a simple approach of salvaging bricks from the old school to commemorate the school and honor its memories and history. We repurposed the school’s main entry window and arch into a new ’gateway’ to the site of the new public safety facility plaza. It brings both literal and metaphoric meaning to this storytelling element. In conjunction with the inviting warmth of the new mass timber civic building, this commemorative marker will both tell a piece of Oregon City’s history and provide a new ‘window’ into the city’s future.

A hallway lit by clerestory windows
Main Circulation Corridor
A woman with an orange backpack standing at the service window in the lobby of a public safety building
Courts Lobby

Two women standing in city counsel chambers as light streams through upper windows

A single-story public safety building and the plaza in front of it