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Overcast nighttime view of low rise Summerland RCMP Detachment showing exterior covered walkway with hybrid wood & metal construction featuring soffits clad with unfinished pine planks

Summerland RCMP Detachment

Location: Summerland, B.C.
Architect: KMBR
Completion: 2012
Photo credit: Martin Knowles

Size
1,496 square metres

Owner
District of Summerland

Structural Engineer
Fast + Epp

Structural systems
Mass timber hybrid
Light wood frame (LWF)
Mass timber
Post-and-beam

Project materials
Glue-laminated timber
Lumber
Nail-laminated timber (NLT)

A contemporary facility for the Summerland RCMP

Traditional wood-frame construction was used to provide the small, idyllic South Okanagan town of Summerland with a contemporary facility for the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP).

Using traditional wood-frame construction with exposed solid-sawn lumber as both a structural and finishing material, this building’s design provides the small, idyllic town of Summerland, located on the west side of Okanagan Lake, with a contemporary facility for the Royal Canadian Mounted Police.

A glulam post-and-beam structure, with exterior and interior infill walls of light-wood-frame construction, form a rectangular plan that is elongated on the east-west axis to maximize solar exposure. An entrance canopy built of nail-laminated timber (NLT) gives the building a public presence, and on hot summer days the exposed pine decking glows in sunlight reflected off the aluminum shading fins.

The building is designed according to passive design principles to maximize the use of passive heating, cooling, ventilation and solar control. Offices and workstations are bathed in natural light, and a composite wood-slat ceiling offers acoustic benefits while adding further warmth to the interior spaces.

“Our new facility is an outstanding building that is state of the art. The RCMP recognize they couldn’t have moved into this new home without the support of the community they serve.”

INSPECTOR BRAD HAUGLI – OFFICER IN CHARGE, RCMP SOUTH OKANAGAN-SIMILKAMEEN REGION
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