The Emergency Operations Center for the City of Commerce is 2,000 SF stand-alone building designed to provide central command and interagency coordination during an emergency response. Located within the civic center campus, the new EOC was designed with consideration of the surrounding civic buildings. Materials and elements were designed to tie the new building into its context while still retaining the buildings own unique identity.
The Emergency Operations Center was designed under the State of California Essential Services Act. The structure must remain fully operational in the event of an earthquake, natural disaster or civil unrest so that EOC support staff can act as a clearinghouse for response and recovery operations. The 32’ x 64’ facility is constructed from structural steel and light gauge metal framing. The building’s exterior and interior act as shear walls while a moment frame has been designed on the north end to allow for larger glass areas for natural light with clerestories on the east and west exposures that are shielded by deep overhangs. A 10 foot high steel security pivoting gates protect the enclosed outdoor patio and north glass wall of laminated security glass.
The 900sf Operations Room is set up to include the Crisis Management Team, Recovery Team Leaders, and representatives from outside agencies. The meeting room will be equipped with status boards and white boards, for tracking the recovery process. The electronic media wall is controlled by a digital media integration system that allows feeds from cable TV, closed circuit cameras throughout the city, satellite, radio as well as computer programs. The objective is to access and interface with multiple streams of information from multiple sources in order to respond to a crisis in real-time. The EOC also has a 200 sf break-out conference space, a kitchen, storage areas and restrooms making it completely self-contained for emergency operations. The building has100% power back-up with an emergency diesel powered generator and computers on UPS so transition to emergency power is seamless.
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