The new, four-story headquarters for the Davidson County Sheriff’s Office will include training areas for cadets, administrative office space and a parking structure. The exterior will feature a combination of dark grey tones of materials, including brick and metal, to project a sense of order and strength. This is contrasted at the entrance canopies where vertical wood elements will offer welcome to employees and visitors. The interior design echoes the exterior, combining similar metal and wood elements. This juxtaposition visually represents the dual mission of law enforcement to both enforce order and serve as a resource for the community.
Location of the headquarters is on the same site as the original facility, and this posed unique design challenges. The first challenge involved the design of a civic structure that would fit well within the scale and in context of the surrounding Metropolitan Development and Housing Agency (MDHA) residential housing.
A second challenge was related to the visibility of the facility’s parking structure to the interstate. An economical solution was needed for both visual screening and security. The resulting design answers this challenge with a custom garage screen with varying sized panels comprised of vegetation, corrugated metal matching that of the office building and an open-woven coated metal. Varying panels in a randomized pattern along the perimeter will be able to conceal the majority of the cars from the interstate.
Providing a central axis through the building, the lobby will connect both the public entrance and the more private garage entry. The lobby will be defined on all floors and articulated on the exterior with wood planar accent walls with views to downtown Nashville and the MDHA community.
Photos © Gabe Ford Photographs
