05-25-12A sense of security | First-of-its-kind education center trains first responders By Marcy Marro
Article excerpted from Metal Architecture magazine[Glen Ellyn, Illinois] - Standing as a response to growing public concerns about national security and regional employment, the new 66,000-square-foot Homeland Security Education Center at the College of DuPage in Glen Ellyn, Ill., is the first facility of its kind in the Midwest. Designed by Legat Architects, Chicago, and Brubaker Design, Chicago, the facility prepares multi-jurisdictional emergency personnel to respond to international and domestic terrorist acts as well as man-made and natural disasters. "The HEC stands as an epicenter for homeland security education," says Aleisha Jaeger, senior project manager at COD. "It elevates the skills of first responders, and offers our community a symbol of strength and dedication to regional and national safety." more » Training Programs The center houses the college's Criminal Justice and Fire Science/EMS programs, in addition to the Suburban Law Enforcement Academy and the COD police department. The facility's hub is the 5,400-square-foot 4-D Immersive Interior Training Lab, which functions as both a gathering area and a zone to simulate urban response force-on-force situations and firearms judgmental training. "With its brick and stucco walls, canopies, and street lights, the Interior Training Lab feels like Main Street, but behind the 'storefronts' are classrooms and labs," says Jay Johnson, HEC project manager, Legat Architects. Additionally, the HEC features forensics and cybercrimes labs, full-scale ambulatory training, a fully functional mock courtroom, smoke room with moveable walls for firefighter scenarios, and debriefing room with floor-to-ceiling viewing screens. The center also provides first responder training in the areas of terrorism methodology, forensics, cyberterrorism, urban response, National Incident Management Systems, emergency medical response and homeland security. « more » "This is as real as it gets," says Bill Lawler, director of the Suburban Law Enforcement Academy. "The HEC not only provides the highest level of hands-on training for the next generation of first responders, but our partnerships with local municipalities allow seasoned law enforcement and emergency personnel to build their skills." A New GatewayLocated at the intersection of two busy roads, the HEC creates a new gateway on the west side of campus. The center is made up of two volumes: a rectangular glass and steel-gridded event space, and an auditorium whose metal-clad walls undulate. A solution to the goal of designing a facility solid enough to support its primary function, yet unique enough to pique curiosity, came in the form of a predictable block accentuated by a series of unpredictable "episodes," including façade recesses and protrusions, height variations, and color and material differences. These differences create a dialogue of contrasts: private and transparent, level and angled, introverted and extroverted. To push the HEC in a new direction, while still relating to the industrial quality of the other campus buildings, metal panels in three different colors were selected. The panels' random arrangement and blue-green colors merge technology and nature. « more »"We spent a lot of time tweaking the three custom panel colors," Johnson says. "On clear days, the center merges the sky's blue with the green of the landscape." The project also includes a THERMAX Wall System that simplified design, streamlined construction and optimized energy efficiency for a reduced carbon footprint. Designers also wanted to give visitors a heightened sense of their surroundings and to engage the way people move around the space. Some of the accordion-like walls are meant to leave occupants wondering what's around the corner, while glass undulations enable occupants to walk in and out of nature. The undulations in the building's main corridor become display cases, while in the auditorium, they enhance acoustic performance.
Garnering AttentionThe HEC has become a source of pride for first responders and residents alike. It offers both newer students and experienced professionals sophisticated, hands-on training, and is expected to fill 19,000 jobs over the next 10 years. « more »COD has developed strong energy and environmental standards for all campus projects, and the HEC is no exception. The center is registered to achieve LEED-NC Silver certification, which was particularly important since it was designed to be a model facility that other institutions throughout the nation are likely to reference. "The center has attracted a lot of attention, not only throughout the Midwest and the country, but internationally, and that's a good thing, because it allows us to give back to any community that's concerned about public safety," says COD President Dr. Robert Breuder.
View images of the Homeland Security Education Center. Attend a presentation about the center at the SCUP International Conference in July. « more | 
