This facility received the Career 1 Notable award in the 2025 Firehouse Station Design Awards. Find the full list of winners here. 

The multilevel Greenfield Fire Department headquarters was badly outdated, lacked cross-contamination protections, and needed new infrastructure and additional space for basic operations. The city originally planned on a public safety facility to include the police department, an Emergency Operations Center (EOC) and a regional public safety answering point. During the search for a viable site, the adjacent historic library received a state grant to build a new main city library. To use the grant within its limited timeframe, the city chose to utilize the existing fire station site and a municipal parking lot for the new library. This forced the fire department to move into temporary facilities while looking for appropriate sites.

At the same time, the architectural firm worked with the city to develop a Request for Proposal for possible sites. A viable, but tight, site that was composed of several underutilized properties was the best alternative based on preliminary “test fits” and site evaluations. The final headquarters design is the culmination of more than a decade of designs on various sites, working with a developer and local contractor to create a public-private partnership. The Station Design Awards judges were complimentary of the execution despite the site constraints.

It was critical to the department that the design address the latest trends in responder health and well-being, overall operational functionality, gender equity, all-electric energy efficiency and a city-wide EOC and include history of firefighting within the city.

The final design includes two buildings (the main headquarters and an outbuilding for storage) that maintain a centralized response point. Just inside of the main public entrance, an historic photo wall leads to a firefighting museum and administrative offices, which was deemed to be a nice touch by the Station Design Awards judges. Living spaces and bunks are in private areas that are directly accessible to the bays for same-level response.

Circulation paths, vibrant and muted colors and warm materials promote social connection, a sense of home away-from-home and mental health.

The station reuses round, wooden windows with keystones from the original station in the gable roof ends, something that didn’t escape the keen eye of the Station Design Awards judges. Masonry materials, metals, glazing, lighting and colors complement those that are prevalent in the city.

Environmental sustainability is important to the city. To take advantage of a reimbursement program from the local electric utility, the station is designed to target an Energy Use Intensity (EUI) score of 35 or lower. The station also meets the Massachusetts Stretch Code that requires buildings to be at least 30 percent more energy efficient than standard. The facility is all-electric, except for an emergency propane generator and a back-up propane boiler for the in floor heating. The roof over the bays is designed to support the future installation of photovoltaic panels.

Architect: H2M architects + engineers