This facility received a Career 2 Silver Award in Firehouse's 2020 Station Design Awards. Find the full list of winners here.
The city of San Rafael and the county of Marin jointly proposed to replace their existing Fire Station No. 57 at its existing site. The county of Marin is the property owner, and the city provides EMS services for the county in this response area. Responding to a “location and resource allocation study,” the station was designed to serve Engine 57, a cross-staff Truck 57 and a relocated Medic 53. It also was designed to be a north area cache for medic re-supply and reserve apparatus storage.
The LEED Gold-certified station posed a unique design challenge: It is adjacent to the Nationally Registered Frank Lloyd Wright's landmark Marin County Civic Center building and had to complement the civic center but not mimic the design. The site challenges include protection of an existing wetland and relocating the previous access from a residential street to Civic Center Drive. True drive-through bays (no stacking) were a requirement of the project, and with such a small site, detailed studies were required to evaluate the turning criteria both entering and exiting the apparatus bay. Not only was the radius studied but the cross slope, too. There is 10 feet of cross fall across the site, which provided challenges for apparatus access and accessibility.
The core facilities of the station accommodate six on-duty personnel. The sleeping rooms and restrooms are on the second level; office/living areas are located on the first level, with a direct path of travel to the apparatus bay. All elements of the “Hot Zone” are located outside of the office and living quarters and have dedicated clean-up areas. Walk-off mats are included at transition areas, and the mechanical system provides positive airflow from the living quarters.
Architect/Firm Name: Mary McGrath Architects.
