This facility received a Satellite Notable Award in the 2022 Firehouse Station Design Awards. Find the full list of winners here.
A new fire substation in the Ballardvale Historic District of Andover was built to replace a historic one-bay station, thus tripling the district’s capacity. The substation contains a three-bay apparatus room, a training and community room, a wellness center, an administrative office and firefighter living quarters. The training room was designed to accommodate firefighter training and to serve a vital role as a community meeting room for the surrounding historic district. The residential area of the station includes a sunlit kitchen/dayroom, seven dormitories, two showers, and both stair and fire pole access to the apparatus room.
Because of the intersection of two major roads (Clark Road and Andover Street) in a residential neighborhood that has a heavily used municipal playground across the street, the site area was extremely limited. The project was built adjacent to the existing fire station, which needed to stay in operation until the new station was completed. Work was phased to allow the later construction of drainage and parking after the historic station was demolished. Because of site constraints, there was limited space for contractor staging/parking.
Energy and sustainability are important to the community. The building includes a high-performance insulated and air-sealed envelope as well as high-efficiency variable refrigerant flow (VRF) heating and cooling, with a 100 percent dedicated outdoor air energy recovery ventilation system. The parking area was designed with permeable paving to assist structured drainage with infiltration on a small site.
The design team worked closely with the town’s Historic District Committee. The town’s Design Review Committee participated in this process, and during the planning stages several three-way meetings were held, with all of the stakeholders participating in a design charrette.
Context Architecture assisted the town with the public approval process. This effort included attending dozens of public meetings and assuring that the tight-knit Ballardvale neighborhood felt heard and well-informed.
Architect/Firm Name: Context Architecture
