A unifying headquarters

The Airport Police Facility at Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) creates a new headquarters for the world’s largest police agency dedicated to airport safety and security. Previously dispersed across nine buildings, the nearly 1,100-person force finally comes together in its first purpose-built facility.

The design of the headquarters takes advantage of the site’s natural landscape, characterized by coastal dunes that extend for more than a mile toward the ocean. Perching the top floor on an existing dune allows views to the airfield and maintains the distinctive topography. The majority of the 200,000-square-foot facility is nestled below the dune, giving the building a discreet profile that responds to the scale of the adjacent residential neighborhood.

The architecture and planning strategy cultivates a unified culture for the agency’s previously dispersed departments. Across the expansive floorplates, the building cores are distributed and the perimeters kept open, providing cohesive open work areas with abundant daylight and views. Flat slab construction with an enlarged column grid provides unencumbered spaces that improve visibility and coordination among the members of the force, while allowing for these spaces to be easily adapted in the future.

Functional planning

The headquarters encircles a 9,000-square-foot outdoor quad that serves as a training facility, gathering place, and venue for special events. SOM planned the facility as a “functional loop”—a sequence of spaces that follow an officer’s daily routine. A circulation path brings officers from the parking garage through the locker rooms, fitness room, main break room, and briefing rooms. At the end of a shift, the functional loop reverses; officers first encounter the kit room, the report writing room, and finally the locker room.

Embedded in the landscape and community

Once a vacant lot, the site has been transformed into a thriving workplace. The building’s low profile, together with improvements to the landscape and public realm, demonstrate how a highly secure facility can also be a good neighbor. A new pedestrian path along Westchester Parkway, public parking, and a large multipurpose room are designed to be shared with the community.

Holistic low-carbon design

To reduce energy use for this 24-hour facility, SOM looked to passive design strategies before employing active sustainability measures. Nestling a portion of the building below grade helps to regulate the interior temperature and reduces energy demand. Cantilevered overhangs shade the facade, with the depth of each overhang calibrated to solar exposure. Active features include onsite photovoltaic panels and a landscaping approach focused on native and drought-tolerant plants. The sustainability approach extends to high-efficiency fixtures and finishes, including fritted glass that maximizes daylight while reducing glare. Beyond minimizing operational energy and carbon, the team worked to reduce embodied carbon in construction. A large portion of the building materials were locally sourced, including concrete and masonry blocks.