Work is underway on Burnsville Fire Station No. 1. CNH Architects has been working with the City of Burnsville to design a brand new facility for the city.
While no strangers to fire station design, Burnsville Fire Station No. 1 will be CNH’s largest fire station to date. It is also the firm’s first station created specifically for a fire department comprised of all full-time firefighters. In the past, most departments have been a mix of full-time and paid-on-call firefighters.
“This provided some insights into the similarities and differences between mixed paid-on-call and full-time departments,” said CNH principal architect Quinn Hutson. Accommodations for the full-time department include a larger firefighter work room. This room provides dedicated desks and space for each on-duty firefighter. There is also a greater focus on privacy with full-time departments, including sound isolation flow of firefighters at shift change. This allows those sleeping at the end of their shift to remain undisturbed by staff reporting for the start of their shift.
Another unique aspect of this project is that the site will reuse rainwater for irrigation, which is a “great green feature,” according to Hutson. Incorporating “green” and sustainable features is a signature part of CNH Designs.
Sustainable designs can reduce the impact buildings have on the environment, reduce long term operating costs, and create better working conditions.
The site itself created a challenge or two during design. A sloping site was resolved by integrating a significant retaining wall. Maintaining apparatus circulation standards was also top of mind in the design process.
CNH is working with Larson Engineering, EDI-Dolejs Engineers, and HKGI Landscape Architects on this project. Kraus Anderson is the construction manager.
Follow the progress and learn more about it here: https://spark.adobe.com/page/JvUuNK9KPsvuZ/
Groundbreaking is planned for September 2020 with a projected completion in October 2021.
Prior to Fire Station No. 1, CNH worked with the City of Burnsville on the ABLE Training Facility, a jointly-used firefighter live burn training building located in Burnsville.