This facility was a Volunteer/Combination Notable selection in Firehouse's 2018 Station Design Awards. Find the full list of winners here.

The North West Fire Station is phase 1 of a two-phase project to construct two new fire stations in the City of Fitchburg. The growth of the City as well as the desire to remain up-to-date served as the catalyst to move forward with the project.

Due to a tight 1.6-acre site and the desire to accommodate a 25,000-square-foot building on a single level, the design was laid out in a sawtooth fashion. The sawtooth design maximized the site area for on-site stormwater retention and vehicular ingress and egress and was necessary to keep the building within the setback lines along two major commercial streets in a busy commercial district.

The station features four drive-through apparatus bays, an emergency operations center, decontamination facilities, turnout gear rooms, exercise facility, nine bunk rooms, storage space, a state-of-the-art kitchen and numerous training amenities. There are operable windows throughout the facility for individualized occupant comfort. The windows around the building have a low-emissivity (low-e) glazing and the apparatus bays are flooded with natural light. The bi-fold doors, featured on the front of the station, provide a high-speed/low-maintenance door for the department’s frontline apparatus.

The design also incorporated several sustainable features, including a geothermal system, radiant in-floor heating, rooftop photovoltaic panels, LED lighting, a solar hot water heating system, and is estimated to save the city $46,265/year in energy costs. Overall, the project was estimated at $5.5 million and built for $5.1 million, and was completed two months ahead of schedule.

Architect/Firm Name: Trevor Frank, AIA, LEED AP, NCARB/Short Elliott Hendrickson Inc.