Public Safety Answering Center II at Bronx, New York by SOM

Skidmore, Owings & Merrill LLP (SOM) presented the first look of its most recent project, the Public Safety Answering Center II, a place for911 emergency response units in Bronx in the state of New York, USA. The 450,000 square feet facility is going to accommodate emergency response workers from the city’s many agencies like the police and fire departments and emergency medical services.

The brutalist-inspired facade of the building makes it stand out from the structures around. It was a request from the client so as to make sure that all the employees get the maximum amount of privacy. The building has a cubic form with a serrated facade of recycled aluminum. The designers have surrounded the structure with a berm of wild grass which cuts the view from the outside to the inside and at the same time provides the users inside with a connection with nature.