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If you break the law in Lane County, they may lock you up in the old sawmill. But at least you will have decent heating and air conditioning, thanks to the folks at Shur Architects. And you really should thank them. Turning an old sawmill into a jail is no small task.

Because of its past use, the site had soil considered too unstable to accommodate the new boilers, chillers and heat exchangers required for the building renovation.

“To mitigate this challenge, Shur Architects designed a deep spreading footings system to stablize the building on the site,” said Nick Shur, the firm’s founder.

Shur said he and his crew paid particular attention to the outside masonry.

“Careful material selection and design that considered the proportions of the building in coordination with the existing structure created a new facility that blends well with both the existing architecture and the masonry finish of the Lane County facility,” he said.

The company also saved taxpayers some money on the $5.5 million project with a little bit of shopping around. “Code research revealed an alternative method of fireproofing that cost far less than the original system with equivalent effectiveness,” Shur said.

Shur said he’s pleased with the results of the project.

“The team achieved a fantastic rapport and worked together to deliver a top-quality mechanical building for the Lane County Adult Corrections Facility,” he said.

About 75 percent of Shur’s employees are women and minorities.

“Over the past 20 years, we have had the privilege to work with a number of other emerging small businesses, woman-owned businesses and minority-owned businesses,” Shur said.  “Teaming with these consultants is not simply to foster the minority and small business community of which we are also a member, but to work with the best available consultants offering the highest level of experience for the job.”