Fire Station Design Awards

Station Design Awards

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CAREER 21 NOTABLE

ealthy living conditions and firefighter wellness were top design priorities for this station.

Its response during and after the advent of COVID-19’s spread proves Station 6 is well-equipped for any challenge.

Positive air pressure inside of the building keeps airborne contaminants out, while wash sinks at every door between the apparatus bay and living quarters reduce the spread of germs. An isolated decontamination room allows

gear to be cleaned, sanitized and ventilated in one space. This area includes the state’s first SCBA washer, which thoroughly purges firefighters’ air packs of contaminants.

Additional design features to protect firefighters from risk of exposure to carcinogens include exceptional cross-ventilation and an exhaust filtration and removal system in the station’s apparatus bay.

Station 6 was built in direct response to the city of Meridian’s rapidly expand-

City of Meridian Fire Station 6 MERIDIAN, ID

Official Project Name: City of Meridian Fire Station 6 Project City/State: Meridian, ID Date Completed: March 10, 2020 Fire Chief: Mark Niemeyer Project Area (sq. ft.): 10,139 Total Cost: $4,600,000 Cost Per Square Foot: $453 Architect/Firm Name: Rice Fergus Miller Website: rfmarch.com Design Team: Rice Fergus Miller: Dave Fergus, PIC; Ron Easterday, PM; Gunnar Gladics, Architect; Sarah Feenstra, Interior Designer; Pivot North: Clint Sievers, Architect, and Richard Carlos; The Land Group: Eric Cronin, PE; KPFF: Judsen Williams, Principal; Cator, Ruma & Associates: Kyle Olson; ESI: Nick Ploetz, PM, and Bob Snow, Superintendent

ing community. Close to the current city limits, the station’s response demand is expected to increase substantially as the city continues to expand. Consequently, expandability was an overarching design goal in layout and functionality.

At 10,139 square feet, with six sleep rooms, bays for two apparatus and built-in plans for more of each, this station focuses on today’s functionality and tomorrow’s expandability.

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Station Design Awards

CAREER 1 NOTABLE

Boise Fire Department Station #9 BOISE, ID

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tation #9 was designed to replace an aging facility and to complement the surrounding architecture of the residential neighborhood while incorporating energy-saving features.

The original Station #9 was built in 1975, and this project initially was planned to remodel that facility. After a comprehensive review and investigation, it became apparent that the required functionality and programming wouldn’t work within the existing building. It was

Official Project Name: Boise Fire Department Station #9 Project City/State: Boise, ID Date Completed: Oct. 21, 2019 Fire Chief: Dennis Doan Project Area (sq. ft.): 8,500 Total Cost: $3,800,000 Cost Per Square Foot: $447.06 Architect/Firm Name: Hummel Architects, PLLC, with Rice Fergus Miller and Engineered Structures Inc. Website: hummelarch.com Design Team: Hummel Architects: Michael Joseph, PM; Yi Liao, Project Team; Mandy Boam, Interior Designer; Engineered Structures: Nick Ploetz, Project Manager; Ken Scaggs, Superintendent (ret.); Marcia Ward, Project Administrator; ESI; Rice Fergus Miller: Dave Fergus, Architect, PIC; Ron Easterday, Architect, PM; Mike Wright, Architect; Gunnar Gladics, Architect 60 l Firehouse l November 2020

decided to have the team design and build a new station on the same site.

The site, which is located in an established neighborhood, influenced the design and allowed the department to be integrated into the community. The approximately 8,500-square-foot, single-story structure allowed neighboring residential property views to remain unaffected. A public plaza and the entry of the station feature art that was designed by a local artist and drought-tolerant landscaping.

Five private dormitories are secured and adjacent to four bathrooms off of a central hallway. A large fitness room is stocked with state-of-the-art cardio and weight-training equipment.

The drive-through apparatus bay features bright red, four-fold bay doors at the front of the station and traditional overhead doors at the rear. The pull-through apparatus bays meet the requirements of the department and have a positive effect on neighborhood traffic. A decontamination room, an equipment bunker, a storage and supply room and a workshop are located directly off of the bays.

Station #9 incorporates energy-saving features that are projected to be 65 percent more energy efficient than the energy code minimum standard. The station has a rooftop solar array, which is estimated to produce 33,600 kW hours per year, which is equivalent to the yearly energy usage of three average homes. Daylighting also was incorporated with the use of solar tubes in the dayroom and clerestory windows that have exterior awnings in taller spaces to allow for more natural light.

Station Design Awards

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TRAINING FACILITIES SILVER

t full build-out, this 17-acre campus will be the most comprehensive all-hazards training center in the state of Idaho.

The design approach centered around training objectives. The intricacies of training evolutions were assessed to better replicate scenarios for teaching required skills. A community risk assessment that identified natural and man-made disasters added to the objectives list. Recent response data were analyzed to further refine these objectives.

The Boise Fire Department didn’t want to build a concrete structure for setting on fire in the middle of an expansive parking lot. A common practice for decades, that model wouldn’t match the risks and dangers that the department’s firefighters are expected to face. Thought went into intervening roads, cul-de-sacs, obstacles and intervening spaces to make training evolutions more realistic and challenging.

Roadways that are within this training campus are more than a route to a

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prop. They are integral to driver training, staging, incident command and fire scene management. Inexpensive pavement markings add more realism.

An adjacent water body that’s naturally filled with groundwater and runoff will provide many benefits as a source of water for future swiftwater prop and water rescue and as an area for recycling training water.

Many residences overlook this campus from the above bluff. How would their views be affected? The height of the commercial tower and placement of the support structures were designed carefully to ensure that the neighbors’ view of the horizon and distant hills wouldn’t be compromised. Exterior building materials and colors were selected thoughtfully. Pitched roofs were selected to satisfy both training objectives and resi-

City of Boise Fire Training Facility BOISE, ID

Official Project Name: City of Boise Fire Training Facility Project City/State: Boise, ID Date Completed: July 30, 2018 Fire Chief: Romero Gervais Project Area (sq. ft.): 34,987 Total Cost: $8,900,000 Cost Per Square Foot: $254 Architect/Firm Name: Rice Fergus Miller Website: rfmarch.com Design Team: Rice Fergus Miller: Dave Fergus, PIC; Ron Easterday, PM; Gunnar Gladics, Architect; Hummel: Josh Hoffer, AIT; Molly Pittman, Interiors; Brandon Taylor, AIT/PM; Fire Training Specialist: Roger LeBoeuf, Elliot, LeBoeuf & McElwain; ESI: Nick Ploetz, PM; Dave Perkins, Superintendent; Justin Rueb, Project Engineer; The Land Group dents’ aesthetic preferences. These choices, together with proactive community outreach, made certain that the city had happy neighbors on ribbon-cutting day.