Coffs Harbour Police Station, New South Wales

2014

Contracting to PTW Architects, Lindsay Webb of Lull Studio designed this funky police station in Coffs Harbour, a semi-tropical regional centre in Australia. The police station is a full local area command facility with forensic services.

The station is located on a former New South Wales Forestry site. Its façade is derived from our photographs of the local the blackbutt trees, which we then down-res’d, pixellated and arranged. Yet while the colours were thus sourced and arranged from the native bushland, the building's shape took on a decidedly aquatic look - we took on board that the Coffs Harbour Vision 2020 is of a 'rainforest by the sea'. OK, so inside there are the necessary holding cells and rows of workstations inside, but we managed some cool moments. How low can morale go when you work inside a big stripy whale?

Although it was the subject of some consternation amongst locals when the scaffolding came down, we’re now informed that the people of this mid-north coastal region are super proud of the fresh and lively persona of the local copshop.

PTW Architects says that the station presents 'an orderly, safe, yet light-footed public image', and is designed as 'an appropriately robust facility and a supportive environment for the men and women of the NSW Police Force'.

The state-of-the-art building ... will boost morale significantly.
Coffs Clarence Commander Superintendent Mark Holohan, Coffs Coast Advocate, December 2014

PTW Architects project page