Under the Banner of Heaven - American Fork Police Station
Set Design / Assistant Art Director
Under the Banner of Heaven is a true crime series based on the dangerous outcomes of extremist religious groups, specifically the the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. I was given the opportunity to design the small town police station where the story unfolds. The scene is set in the 1980’s and we wanted to reflect this with warm, earthy colour tones, retro tiles and carpet tiles. The layout was created by designing various private spaces, which still feel connected by proximity. We wanted an open feel to the bullpen, with a glimpse into the holding areas in the back. It was also important for our main characters to have their own offices that were connected to each other and the bullpen.
This design was especially interesting since it was built in an old firehall in Didsbury, Alberta. When we first entered the space it was full of old open stud walls, a low ceiling second story, and lots of odd shaped loading bays. Therefore, we decided to demolish the interior and start with a large open space. We also removed some of the garage doors and added new facade elements, including a storefront entrance and a bank of brick enclosed windows.
The two main materials we selected were the existing brick on the building, which we then brought into the interior, and a multi-coloured ceramic tile with curved edges. These two materials determined many of our door and window openings, as we wanted everything to line up exactly with the brick and tiles patterns. We did this all through cnc medite sheets, and some incredible scenic painting.
Mormons are known for their craftsmanship, therefore we wanted their police station to reflect this care, order and pride.
Renderings & Set Photos
Below are some renderings I created displaying the design of our police station. Below the renderings is a slideshow of finished set photos for comparison to our original illustrations. We used these renderings to sell our design to the network, as well as to help display every detail we had drawn for construction and paint. They also helped with space planing for our decorating team.
Exterior Renderings & Set Photos
Along with designing the interior set, we also designed the exterior. We took the original building and added more brick, windows and a storefront façade. Below is a rendering I created of the exterior, which our illustrator then added foreground, lighting elements, vehicles and replaced the sky.
Exterior rendering of the American Fork Police Station. (our illustrator enhanced my base rendering by adding vehicles, lights and foreground.
Before image of the exterior of the American Fork Police Station
Before image of the exterior of the American Fork Police Station
Finished exterior of the American Fork Police Station
Finished exterior of the American Fork Police Station
