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Morgue areas, offices and public spaces, as well as the evidence drop-off and storage areas for police forces, are situated on the first floor. Plan: Astorino
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For more than 100 years, the forensics laboratories of the Allegheny County Medical Examiner’s Office have provided evidence investigation for the County Medical Examiner and police forces of Allegheny County and its surrounding counties in Western Pennsylvania. Constructed in 1929, the forensics labs were originally located in the basement of the County Office Building. In recent years, it became evident that these facilities were inadequate for the forensic lab’s case load and developing testing technologies. As home to more than 1.2 million residents, the county sorely needed a facility that would enable scientists and investigators to process and analyze evidence more quickly and efficiently than the current space allowed.
In 2004, Allegheny County hired Astorino, a Pittsburgh-based architecture, engineering and construction firm, to help create a brand new $26 million facility. Astorino recognized that the new facility needed to meet 21st century lab design standards with flexible and updated lab spaces so the Medical Examiner’s office could provide better investigative services to the whole of Western Pennsylvania.
Understanding the needs
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To aid visual investigations, movable base cabinets and large layout tables were provided to provide ample room and space for research. All photos: Alexander Denmarsh
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Before starting the project, Astorino partnered with consultants McClaren, Wilson and Lawrie Inc., Roanoke, Va. specialists in forensics lab and public safety building design. The firm helped Astorino assess the existing facility, and aided with project programming and design. Together the firms evaluated the lab and determined that in order to accommodate increasing case loads and provide room for state-of-the-art instrumentation, required storage, and future expansion, a new building would be required. Due to the sensitive nature of the facility, designers also needed to make sure that the new infrastructure could control access to the building, protect valuable assets, and improve workflow and operational efficiencies.
Creating the space
Designers approximated that 80,000-ft2 would be needed to house the new Medical Examiner’s office and forensics laboratories. Whenever possible, Allegheny County incorporates adaptive reuse as part of its building culture: reusing existing space whenever possible and adapting it to the new needs. The county, with assistance from Astorino, chose a two-story building in the warehouse district of Pittsburgh, also known as the Strip District, to house the new forensics lab. This strategy, however, was not without its challenges.
Careful consideration of where each lab and its supporting spaces needed to go became the team’s first priority. The low floor-to-floor height of the building and inadequate structural loading required the design team to brainstorm creative solutions. The structure also needed to support sensitive lab equipment and construction of a penthouse to house the air handling and special services required in forensics labs. Finally, the team needed to address vibration concerns, as much of the new forensics equipment requires respect for vibration thresholds to work correctly.
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Offices and other public spaces were located on the first floor to reduce foot traffic and reduce noise near examination areas.
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From these needs, the team created an organizational plan. They placed the morgue areas, offices and public spaces, as well as the evidence drop-off and storage areas for police forces, on the first floor. To address privacy concerns, Astorino designed the body drop-off and pick-up garage for the Medical Examiner to be situated inside the building itself. Designers installed garage doors in this area so that the Medical Examiner’s vans can back in when bringing bodies in for autopsies, hiding deliveries from public view. Walk-in coolers, located off of the drop area, provide cold storage for pre- and post-autopsy bodies.
Inside, the team designed the morgue area to comply with recent trends in biosafety. For example, designers created a specialized autopsy area with a higher number of air changes so that autopsies can be performed on bodies with suspected contagions or having unwelcomed odors. The team also provided a walk-in cooler for these special cases off of the drop-off garage.
Since the forensic labs provide evidence investigation for the municipalities of Allegheny County, the surrounding counties and county agencies, the team created an after-hours evidence drop-off area on the first floor. Representatives from police forces and agencies were granted after-hours access to a restricted corridor where self-locking evidence lockers—including a refrigerated evidence locker—were provided. Evidence can now be delivered over the weekend to this area and logged in at the beginning of the week by forensics staff. This has alleviated the Monday morning evidence rush that the lab previously handled.
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The specialized autopsy area complies with the most recent trends in biosafety, such as a higher number of air changes.
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Astorino designed the forensic labs with two activities in mind: visual investigation and evidence testing. The two activities are very different in execution and require different configurations. For the visual investigation area, movable base cabinets and large layout tables were provided. Overhead cord reels provide power wherever it was needed. These features create large, open and flexible areas in which investigators can review and gather evidence. Rooms for alternate light sources, powder dusting and sensitive environmental testing surround these investigation spaces.
The evidence testing areas were separated from the investigation areas so that the heat generated by the instrumentation could be mitigated. Astorino placed flexible exhaust task arms, which can be placed at the instrumentation, to draw heat away. Additionally, the noise generated by the instrumentation does not disturb the investigators. Specialty gases, such as hydrogen and nitrogen, are provided on demand by gas generators located near the associated instruments.
Borrowed light was also incorporated into the design so light and views from the exterior windows could penetrate the interior of the lab. As the forensics labs provide tours for secondary learning institutions and trade schools, interior windows also provide a way for visitors to see the lab activities taking place without disturbing evidence or investigators at work.
Special structural and HVAC challenges were faced by the design team; for details, see the expanded edition for this month at: http://www.rdmag.com/General/Laboratory-Design-News-Archive/
The challenges
Because the selected building could not support the new structural load, designers added more steel. This mainly supports the rooftop penthouse, where the HVAC system, high-dispersion fans and emergency generator are located, and the second-floor gun range. In addition to the structural upgrades, concrete block walls were provided around the scanning electron microscope (SEM). This increases the building mass, which helps mitigate outside vibration capable of influencing the microscope’s efficacy, such as that produced in the gun range.
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Specialized air systems are present throughout the new facility to mitigate contagions and unwelcomed odors.
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In this crucial ballistics-testing area, cast concrete walls, new flooring with a floor-isolation system, and a specialty ceiling further isolate the sound waves. Additionally, due to recent government recommendations, designers built the gun range to comply with safety requirements for air flow that help eliminate lead concerns. These requirements indicate that a dedicated supply and exhaust are needed as well as a directional flow of air to protect investigators. Because the gun range was located on the second floor, these requirements were more easily met. Air is supplied from a plenum located behind the shooter, and then exhausted at the trap end of the range. The system can be turned on when needed by the investigator and turned off when not in use.
Serving the growing community
The new laboratory opened in July 2009 and provides the services necessary for good forensic investigation in a more productive and healthy environment. Thanks to the updated facilities, the Medical Examiner’s Forensic Labs can continue to provide forensic services for groups beyond local police forces. The Federal Bureau of Investigation, Drug Enforcement Agency, Food and Drug Administration, Allegheny County Fire Marshal’s Office and the City of Pittsburgh Arson Unit are just a few of the outside organizations that already rely on the Medical Examiner’s Forensic Labs for forensic investigation.
The various forensics labs maintain and improve the proficiencies required by state and federal organizations for licensing, in addition to contributing evidentiary information to evidence gathering sites such as NIBIN/IBIS (Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives), CODIS (FBI) and AFIS (Pennsylvania State Police). Since the new lab facility provides flexibility and a collaborative work environment, the future services available from the Allegheny County Medical Examiner’s Office and Forensic Labs can only grow.
In this project, design paved the way to make the jobs of forensic investigators, law enforcement personnel, and county workers easier. These workers provide closure to families who have been victimized by crime, and use forensic investigation to help place criminals behind bars, keeping Western Pennsylvania safe. Astorino was proud to do its small part to make this possible.
Anne Beswick, RA, is a project architect, and John Whitmire, AIA, is a project manager for Astorino, a full-service architectural and engineering firm based in Pittsburgh www.astorino.com).
Published in Laboratory Design Newsletter: Vol. 15, No. 1, January, 2010, pp.6-8.