RMWB Police Headquarters (RCMP Timberlea) New Building
Fort McMurray, AlbertaThe RMWB Police Headquarters (RCMP Timberlea) New Building involved the design and construction of one of Alberta’s largest municipal police facilities and the province's largest RCMP Detachment, meeting both municipal and RCMP standards. Built by the Regional Municipality of Wood Buffalo (RMWB), the facility accommodates rural and municipal policing, community policing, traffic units, GIS, victim services, by-law enforcement, support staff functions, and a full forensic identification section. SK-ACI coordinated input from multiple stakeholders, including RMWB, RCMP K-Division, and the Fort McMurray Detachment.
The consultation process involved space programming, scope identification, and site selection. The detachment houses 169 members and 71 employees, with the capacity to expand to 200 members and 80 employees. The design allowed for internal reorganization without major demolition or disruption, incorporating second-floor shell space for future expansion. Additional flexibility was achieved through modular furnishings, demountable partitions, and below-floor service distribution for cabling, ventilation, and power. Secure areas, such as the Exhibit, Filing, and Forensic Identification Sections, were constructed with “hard” construction for security and fire protection.
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The limited availability of land in Fort McMurray posed a significant challenge in identifying a site that met RCMP, municipal, and physical criteria. This year-long process led to the decision to separate the main administration functions from the cell block, with the cells requiring a downtown location and the main detachment needing a larger site. Additional challenges included the city’s rapid growth, its impact on RCMP staffing and the local economy, largely driven by the energy sector. Inflationary effects on this project and others in the province were significant with only two bids being submitted on the project.
The building incorporates state-of-the-art features to create a superior working environment, including natural daylighting, displacement ventilation, 95% efficiency boilers, a solar wall, and a high-performance thermal envelope. These features contributed to the building achieving a 57% improvement over the national energy code.
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The building contains various state-of-the-art features to provide a superior working environment for the occupants.