Palmerston North Police Station
The primary requirement for our client when we were engaged to manage the new Palmerston North Police Station project was that we have it completed as soon as possible.
Their existing premises across the road were well past their use-by date and staff were getting restless.
New Zealand Police had already purchased a property comprising a three storey office building with extensive carparking facilities – leaving us to redevelop it to police requirements. This meant adding a two-storey extension for the cell block, cafeteria and change rooms, strengthening the existing structure to 1 ½ times code requirements, then refitting it for police operational requirements.
The strengthening was achieved by thickening the external walls. This involved excavating around the perimeter of the building and tying in new concrete foundations and walls. The construction programme was reduced by the use of sprayed concrete instead of the originally proposed cast-insitu.
The cell block construction was an innovative proprietary system imported from Australia, and comprised steel sandwich panels forming walls and ceilings and double glazed front panels, all locking together to allow rapid construction and efficient use of space.
At the completion of the construction the station staff literally walked across the road to their new premises, and the new Palmerston North Police Station opened its doors to the public at 6pm on 10th October 2005.