Scottish Crime Campus

The brief for 25,000sqm net Scottish Crime Campus was therefore very complex in terms of adjacencies, security levels and non-contamination of evidence, but also aimed to encourage common purpose.

As a consequence, a functional analysis of the brief was a means of designing form through a metaphorical or allegorical interpretation of the key elements as visual cues to generate new forms, whilst requiring both legibility and liveability for all users.

Many of the functions carried out within the building are concerned with identity and identification. The façade and building concept take some of the visual references associated with the process of identification and abstracts them to give the building itself, as well as the working environment, a clearly recognisable identity. Vertical orientation of the façade breaks up the horizontality of the massing, providing rhythm and variety, and is inspired by various visual references, including DNA sequence art, barcode band artworks and fingerprint dermal ridges. These visual references generated a theme which is repeated through the landscape design, façades and finishes within the atrium and throughout the building.