This facility received a Volunteer/Combination Gold Award in Firehouse's 2019 Station Design Awards. Find the full list of winners here.
The White Marsh Volunteer Fire Company's new 20,000 square-foot station is located on a major thoroughfare just off Interstate 95 in Baltimore County, MD. Working as part of the career/volunteer hybrid model within the county, the White Marsh Volunteer Fire Company is 100 percent volunteer and is one of the busiest departments within the region.
The new station relocates the department from an aging nearby facility within the 100-year flood plain that also suffered from significant and unpredictable response delays resulting from a major freight rail line located immediately adjacent to the existing building. The new station was constructed on land generously donated to the department by General Motors after being jointly approached by the department and the design team. The facility provides the department with five apparatus bays, a wet training tower, various apparatus support spaces and an efficiently organized operations and living area that improves response time.
The operations and living areas of the station are supported by separated double bunk rooms, three live-in bunks, kitchen, day room, study, fitness area, game room, outdoor patio, and various operations and administrative offices.
The station encourages a stronger relationship with the community not only through a welcoming overall design, but also by increasing the visibility of response and training activities and including a large training room ready to host a variety of neighborhood functions.
The donation of the land was a win-win for all parties. The department received a new parcel of land capable of improving regional response times and housing a state-ofthe-art station. General Motors off-loaded nearly seven acres of land that was not developable due to zoning setback restrictions, thus reducing their tax burden. The plant also received the added benefit of having a fully staffed fire department “on-site,” which resulted in a reduction in their insurance premiums.
Architect/Firm Name: Manns Woodward Studios, Inc.
