Project: Local Policing Team (LPT), 2003. Hull, Humberside, UK

InterTech acted as 3D visualisation consultants to the Quibell Construction Group and ESA Architects during the 2003 redevelopment of urban police stations throughout the Humberside Region.

Quality of Life Policing is a new urban policing concept in the UK. It delivers highly visible street patrols while reducing crime, disorder and road casualties. The adoption of the Home Office’s Geographic Policing initiative in 2001 meant that the majority of operational UK police officers became allocated to Local Police Teams (LPTs). Each LPT provided policing services directly to their local communities.

Humberside Police Force’s 39 Local Police Teams quickly found that they needed to be based as close as possible to the heart of the communities which they served. But many of the existing police buildings were found to be in the wrong locations or had inadequate facilities.

In 2003, Humberside Police Force embarked on a major building programme to create eighteen new police stations and convert or develop six other sites for police use. The project was carried out with the support of the Humberside Police Authority and the four Unitary Authorities within the Humberside police area.

This highly specialised programme of urban development was delivered under a partnership agreement with the Quibell Construction Group, a local building contractor with a base in Hull. The objective of the programme was to provide new Local Police Team buildings in those areas where no suitable police building existed and, where necessary, to modernise existing buildings.

Each state-of-the-art LPT building was designed to be less intimidating than a large, centralised city police station. Each building was packed with technology and located on the very doorstep of the community. In this way, the Local Police Teams could become a part of the community and the community could become a part of their respective Local Police Team.

Each LPT building was built as a two-storey construction in one of three capacities: A 30 person, a 50 person and a 70 person building. Each LPT building was designed to be user-friendly. Fronted by a light and spacious reception area, each has easy access designed for anyone to use. The administration areas are open plan which provides an unintimidating and pleasant working environment – more like a local library or a doctor’s surgery than a police station.

Local Policing is a new approach to policing. However, it required the design and construction of a completely new type of building so that local police officers could serve their local communities.

Through Local Policing, officers have now become better placed to deal with local problems while being more visible and accessible to the public. For Hull and for Humberside, Local Policing has greatly improved the quality and effectiveness of the services provided by the Humberside Police Force.

InterTech is proud to have helped with the development of these state-of-the-art police stations as part of the LPT development programme.

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