First look at the new police station

An artist's impression of the proposed new police station to be
built on the site of the existing New Norfolk Police Station.

THE design of the proposed new police station at New Norfolk is revealed in plans which have been lodged with the Derwent Valley Council by Heffernan Button Voss (HBV) Architects.

The State Government proposes to demolish the existing building at 10-12 Bathurst St and replace it with a $5 million new build.

Police operations last week transferred to a temporary station in the former ANZ Bank at 24 High St and Service Tasmania will relocate to the same premises next week.

The new building will feature separate entrances for the police station and Service Tasmania, both contained under one angled awning.

The current police station viewed from the same angle as
the proposed new station, top.

It will have just over 1000 square metres of floorspace, with customer parking in front of the building and staff parking in a basement carpark underneath. The plans also appear to show a ground-floor garage where the present cell block and exercise yards stand at the southern end of the building.

Frazer Read of All Urban Planning describes the building as being of a simple design, using red brick cladding as a contextual reference to buildings of the region including the existing 1967-built police station. "The modern contemporary form is intended to convey a renewed place of policing in the community," Read said in a letter accompanying the development application.

In a separate letter, Rohan Pace of HBV Architects says the firm was commissioned by the Department of Police, Fire and Emergency Services early last year to provide architectural services for the design of a new police station.

"Early investigations into repurposing the existing station confirmed a satisfactory balance between openness, community focus and contemporary requirements could not be achieved [and] a new building was required," Pace said.

The view of the proposed new police station looking down
High St.

"The design of [a] new building gave HBV Architects the opportunity to instill the core focus of community and openness to the public face of the building. This is achieved by creating a double-height glazed forecourt that provides a clearly distinguished public entry and forms a welcoming transparent conclusion to the axis of High St," Pace said.

"The site also has an important relationship to the adjacent St Matthew's Church, and in respect of views from Arthur Square and the Bathurst St streetscape, the forecourt folds down [to] create a low edge of the building that remains subservient to the adjacent St Matthew's Church.

"The frontage landscaping component acts as an extension to Arthur Square with grassed areas, planted garden beds and bench seating. Inside and outside are also connected by a landscaped courtyard that is the focus of the police station foyer, and the retained existing sycamore tree [will be] framed by a large window into the Service Tasmania shopfront. The operational areas of the building are accessed from the southern edge of the site, separating police operations from the public interface."

The Bathurst St frontage of the proposed new police station. Plans lodged with
the Derwent Valley Council indicate that the left-hand third of the building will
house a Service Tasmania shopfront and police offices, with "police operations"
in the middle third, and a seven-car garage in the right-hand third of the building.
Additional car-parking will be at the front and underneath.