In Quarters: Waterstone Fire & EMS Station, Hillsborough, NC

This facility received the Co-Located Bronze award in the 2025 Firehouse Station Design Awards. Find the full list of winners here. 

Orange County contracted with the architect to design an emergency response center that housed both the Orange Rural Fire Department and Orange County EMS. One of the biggest challenges of the project was the extremely steep site that limited the total usable area that was available for a building that could house the two separate departments.

The design included a retaining wall to resolve the steep slope, which resulted in a narrow street front. To maintain access to the site and to provide the shortest emergency response pathway, all of the parking was located at the rear of the building. Using this site constraint as a design challenge, the design team developed a layout that placed the emergency egress closest to the street to allow for quick response. The public entrance is at the rear closest to the facility’s parking, an element that the Station Design Awards judges applauded for its innovativeness. Going this route, the design team ensured that both the front and the rear façades were articulated to maintain a street façade throughout the exterior of the building.

The programming needs of the project required separate service areas for each department, with the exception of a shared apparatus bay area. As a result, the apparatus bays are located in the center of the building, with associated areas of each department flanking on either side. The Station Design Awards judges found the concept appealing. The two departments have separate entrances, which are defined clearly to designate the entry to each department while maintaining a cohesive look, to provide the building with a unified aesthetic.

The project is located in the Waterstone area of the town. The historic aesthetic of the town and the modern elements that are prevalent in the Waterstone area were combined to create a design that blends into the surrounding community. Traditional red brick, decorative precast concrete veneer and arched apparatus bay door openings were used. A polished and textured veneer that’s composed of architectural concrete masonry units and matte black windows, cornices and downspouts complement the modern commercial buildings that are located in the area, an end result that one of the Station Design Awards judges called beautiful.

Architect: Stewart Cooper Newell Architects