Arkansas State Police (ASP) is developing a comprehensive training center at Camp Robinson in North Little Rock. The facility will serve new recruits, Troop School, and provide in-service training for current Troopers and outside law enforcement agencies. WER previously assisted ASP with a Training Building consisting of classrooms and offices and a garage building consisting of track maintenance facilities and an observation tower overlooking the Precision Driving Track.

With the Barracks Facility, ASP is seeking to consolidate training facilities at one location, bringing overnight housing to the complex to build camaraderie through new living quarters. The complex is comprised of three buildings: a lodge, a two-story housing building, and a one-story housing building. The Lodge Building consists of a large lobby/living area, dining hall, kitchen, a recreation area, associated restrooms and a large covered patio. The two-story housing building is intended for Troop School, with recruits staying for up to six months at a time. This building has an associated duty assignment area for recruits. The one-story housing building is intended to be used for in-service and outside agency education. WER assisted early in the project to develop the site planning for future build out to reach a goal of 200 beds. Through early coordination with the selected construction manager, the design team pinpointed a layout that fit within the owner’s budget and immediate needs. The units are set up in a hotel style with each unit has private restroom and accommodating two people. Each building has both commercial laundry as well as individual-use laundry machines. The housing buildings were designed for rest and studying with the intent of community building to be encouraged to occur in the lodge facilities.

The initial two housing buildings contain a total of 122 beds with a construction cost of $389/SF when bid in the fall of 2024. With a total of 31,200 sq/ft, the bed count yielded 256sf/bed(excluding ADA rooms), which is considered very efficient.