Kansas City Police Headquarters Named “Project of the Year” at AIA Kansas City’s 2016 Design Excellence Awards
One such project is the renovation and expansion of the Kansas City Police Department Headquarters, which was recently named “Project of the Year” and received an “Honor Award” in the Architecture category at AIA Kansas City’s 2016 Design Excellence Awards.
The renovation and expansion of the KCPD Headquarters was designed to re-position the facility for another 70-years of service to the community while respecting the character of the historic structure. An important goal of the project was to increase transparency and expand police interaction with the community. This involved extensive changes to the first floor including the addition of a community room, which allows the public to engage in the Board of Police Commissioners meetings and serves as a venue for Police community outreach programming. The pattern of the concrete structural roof system in the new addition is adapted from Art Deco details that are found throughout the historic Police Headquarters building in both ornamental and functional roles.
“The headquarters renovation was a daunting project at the onset. Several of the 8 floors had not been updated since they were built in 1938. With the vision of Helix Architecture and the dedicated work by JE Dunn, the end result has been nothing short of amazing.”
– Major Sharon Laningham, Kansas City Police Department
“The Kansas City Police Dept. project says everything that’s right about how a police department relates to its community. They took a limited program and communicated a welcoming civic presence that communicates that the police are an integral part of their community. This is civic architecture at its finest.”
-Steve Ziger, AIA, partner with Ziger/Snead Architects
“This one as soon as I opened up the file it was like, whoa, this is a winner this is probably going to be the grand winner. It was such a powerful and strong statement right from the get go… The program was really just bathrooms, a fire stair and a small meeting room. But what they did with that and how they took the details of the building and transformed that into this whole new ceiling structure that just comes alive at night with light, the incorporation of public art, it really spoke to what a public building can be. And in these times for it to be an addition to the police headquarters, of course, is a great moment for the community. It was everybody’s number one project.”
-Luis Bernardo, FAIA , principal with Design Collective, Inc.
“The Kansas City Police Department Headquarters was such a beautiful project in many ways but really poignant and timely for us. The day that we got together and reviewed all the projects was a day that the news cycle was completely dominated by communities and struggles, frankly, with their police departments. At a time when our country is really struggling with these complex issues it was really wonderful to see a project where such an important civic institution as the police department headquarters project really spoke to the strength and spirit of community for Kansas City.”
-Luanne Greene, FAIA, president of Ayers Saint Gross
You can watch the full video of jury comments here:
Congratulations to our clients at the Kansas City Police Department, our construction partners at JE Dunn Construction, our engineering partners and all of our Helix design team members. Successful projects are only achieved through strong relationships across all team members and these awards belong to all of you.