In Quarters: Washington Township Fire Department Station 41, Centerville, OH

This facility received the Career 1 Notable award in the 2024 Firehouse Station Design Awards. Find the full list of winners here. 

This facility is designed with firefighter/paramedic long-term health and wellness as the top priority. 

A strong connection to the outdoors is achieved by the thoughtful placement of the building on the site to take advantage of a stand of mature sycamore trees that provide a welcoming environment and shade to the west side of the building and outdoor dining patio during the summer months.

The training mezzanine and elevated bailout window are placed above the living quarters near the front of the apparatus bays to achieve a two-story building mass as viewed from the main street. This balances the larger mass of the apparatus bays.

The open-plan, residential-scale dayroom, dining room and kitchen are positioned in full view of the trees, and the facility is designed to encourage positive interactions with other crew members. An LED fireplace is the focal point of the dayroom and provides warmth and a sense of home that can be enjoyed year-round with no maintenance and minimal carbon footprint. A respite room is designed with a recliner and a full-height wall mural of a serene landscape. Individuals have the ability to change the lighting levels and color of the light that’s within the room.

Mixed-gender crews are provided eight individual dormitory rooms and three individual toilet/shower rooms. The dorm rooms and individual toilet/shower rooms are placed as close as possible to the front of the station. This positioning provides members with the shortest and most direct access to the front of the apparatus bays.

The public handicapped-accessible restroom doubles as an integrated ICC 500 tornado shelter.

Another important sustainability feature that’s built into the design of Station 41 is the 41 kW solar array that’s located on the apparatus bay roof. The system is designed in a way that allows it to produce as much as 25 percent of the building’s electricity needs.

Architect: App Architecture