Engine 42/Rescue 2, Boston

This facility received a Career 1 Notable Award in the 2022 Firehouse Station Design Awards. Find the full list of winners here.

Located on a mere 0.7 acres at a busy, city intersection, the very active Engine 42/Rescue 2 is Boston’s first new fire station in nearly four decades, and it initiated a long-range plan to upgrade facilities for the city’s first responders and set precedents.

The existing facility was grossly inadequate for fleet, equipment, storage and personnel, and it heavily compromised health, safety and performance.

A temporary office trailer that had bunks and a fabric structure for an apparatus were erected nearby. Soil issues that resulted from urban fill at the existing site led to the structural design of a Geopier system that consists of Geo Concrete Columns under foundation footings and grouted aggregate piers for the new LEED Silver Certified station that quadrupled the size of its 1951 predecessor.

Former Commissioner Joseph Finn, who was concerned with firefighter health, sought a responsive design to optimize the firehouse’s environmental conditions. Acting Mayor Kim Janey and then-Commissioner John Dempsey acknowledged the project’s success and importance at the ribbon-cutting ceremony. Among the facility’s key design elements that the speakers noted is the emphasis on the health and safety of staff, which is addressed by the segmentation of spaces for contamination control and various physical and mechanical means to maintain clean environments throughout the station.

The two-story building offers numerous on-site training opportunities: ladder, rappelling, ropes, dry hydrant, hose evolution and confined space, among others. Adjacent to the three and a half apparatus bays are a decontamination area, showers, a turnout gear room that has a dedicated HVAC system and a large meeting/training room. A kitchen, a dayroom, a fitness area, lockers and 14 bunkrooms for two companies are in proximity on the second floor. A mechanical room that has access to a solar-ready, thermoplastic polyolefin-membrane roof is above the second floor.

A number of design objectives were established by the department and the city‘s Public Facilities Department: durable, low-maintenance materials; super-high-efficiency glazing and horizontal exterior solar shades to reduce glare and solar heat gain; high-efficiency mechanical system; easily cleanable interior surfaces to help with decon (no porous surfaces); stainless-steel commercial-grade kitchen; open dining/dayroom area that provides visibility to neighborhood activity; large fitness room; training room that can double as another fitness area for floor exercises; and short distances from living areas to the apparatus bays to minimize response times.

Although the building and apron occupy most of the site, several amenities grace the outdoors, and much attention was given to the station’s surroundings.

With limited street and municipal parking available, on-site accommodations were a priority. The ultimate layout on the small, constrained site provides parking space for two companies.

Small islands that have attractive, right-sized, low-maintenance shrubs and perennials punctuate the building’s perimeter and, with a customized decorative fence, provide a stylish and compatible elevated shoulder along the sidewalk.

Distinctive, concrete planters are eye-catching and effective bollards as well.

A ground-level patio that’s adjacent to the training room and a rooftop deck are accessed through the kitchen and provide for training opportunities as well as an outdoor retreat or gathering space.

A generator, a fuel depot, and receptacles for trash and recycling are located on the site, which also was prepared to accommodate future electric vehicle charging.

The front brick façade, which is adjacent to the main entry, is prepared for future artwork.

Architect/Firm Name: Dore + Whittier