Philadelphia: Designing Fire Stations of the Future

IN THIS ISSUE

Purchase Fire Station Breaks Ground

Preparing Stations of the Future for Philadelphia

Fire Station in Augusta Completes

Bob Celebrates 50 Years with TAP

Purchase breaks ground on their fire station renovation project

The Purchase Fire District has broken ground on the renovations and additions to their station. The 14,700 sq. ft., three-story addition will provide space for fire apparatus that meets modern criteria for safe clearances; facilities for decontamination of personnel, gear, and equipment; hot zone-cold zone separation; training; bunking; and living space.

View an animation of the Purchase Fire Station transformation. Click Here.

The City of Philadelphia plans for fire stations of the future

Mitchell Associates Architects has been working with Hill International, Inc., on the Public Facilities Master Plan for the City of Philadelphia. Our first task was the preparation of a Basis of Design (BOD) that will guide future design of fire stations throughout the city. In addition to providing individual room designs, the BOD serves as a guide for designing efficient operations, dirty/clean separations, decon and laundry space, SCBA storage and maintenance, gender flexibility, proper sleep, ADA compliance, and on-site training accommodations.

Our second task was demonstrating how the BOD can be applied to 9 representative examples the City's 65 existing stations (see engine 5 example via download at our website).

Our third task is conceptual design of a new facility that contains a marine unit, a land station, a training facility, and a regional support unit containing storage and a decon/laundry.

Construction nears completion on the Hartford Fire Station in Augusta

Construction is currently wrapping up on the expansion and renovation of the Hartford Fire Station in Augusta, Maine. The $6.7 million project features a new, multi-bay garage, eight additional bedrooms, an elevator, training room, kitchen, decon/laundry, storage, turnout gear, and fitness room. The fire department is expected to move into the facility in the summer of 2019.

Mitchell Associates provided programming, floor plans, firematic equipment schedules and detail drawings of firematic spaces to the larger consultant team, led by WBRC Architects-Engineers.

We are currently involved in many projects where we are the consultant to other architectural firms who are local to the project site, allowing the fire departments to work with a local architectural firm and also benefit from our firematic experience.

View an animation of the Hartford Fire Station transformation. Click here.

Mitchell Associates celebrates long relationship with TAP

50 years ago, Bob Mitchell helped to found TAP, a non-profit community design center located in Troy, NY. The organization recently held a 50th anniversary party and welcomed founders and previous participants to the celebration.

TAP got started in 1969 with the goal of providing low-cost architectural design services to the Troy community. Among its founders were students, professors of architecture, local architects and attorneys, Troy neighborhood residents, and other people and organizations concerned about the city. Working at first as a volunteer organization, TAP built parks, ran summer art programs, helped battle exploiting landlords and ill-conceived urban renewal projects, and played a major role in defeating the proposed Troy North-South Arterial. Throughout the years TAP has expanded both in terms of those they serve, geography, as well as its transition from a volunteer-only organization to a one that combines paid positions and volunteers.

MA is pleased to be working with TAP on the design of the Schodack Valley fire station project. Learn more about the history of TAP.