New police station for Palmerston community
RPS’ project management team has led the delivery of a new police station for Palmerston which will be home to the Northern Territory Police Fire and Emergency Services (NTPFES) for the next 30 years.
Challenge
The building model for Palmerston Police Station required integration of mandatory and precautionary safety and wellbeing design features. Built in an area exposed to extreme weather the station also required careful selection of construction materials that would be resilient to tropical cyclones as well as heat and humidity typical of area.
Palmerston Police Station was a high profile, complex project with multiple stakeholders to engage with and manage along the way. With experience navigating challenging projects, RPS’ project management team was engaged to provide comprehensive planning and design solutions and guide the station to completion.
Solution
Palmerston Police Station is a purpose-built facility designed for 24-hour seven days a week operations. It has space for 200 uniformed police and administration staff and includes a watch house with 27 cells and capacity for safe and appropriate separation of 100 detainees.
RPS supported the project through key stages of development, including:
- Engaging with more than 20 stakeholder representatives from local communities and state government groups.
- Planning with consideration of high-need residents occupying the station’s neighbouring facilities, the Palmerston Super Clinic and Terrace Gardens Aged Care Home.
- Selection of resilient construction materials that met Importance Level 4 (IL4) Seismic Resilience Standards and would hold up to both the harsh weather conditions of the Northern Territory and the wear and tear that can be caused by officers’ bulky equipment.
- Integration of innovative technology to mitigate operating safety issues for the station and watch house.
- Development of specialised design models critical for ensuring the safety and wellbeing of all those in the station—police, public and detainees.
Meeting the completion target of August 2019, Palmerston Police Station is fully operational and a model for future station developments in the Northern Territory.
