Designed by dasch zürn + partner Architekten, the facility comprises a fire station and a municipal works yard with a gross floor area of 7,165 m². The new construction provides the fire department with enhanced capabilities for storing equipment and conducting drills and training—while the location ensures compliance with the ten-minute emergency response requirement. The fire station houses a vehicle bay for 26 emergency vehicles, a hose and training tower, an automotive workshop and washing facility, a breathing apparatus workshop and communications center, as well as training rooms. The municipal works yard features a hall for 12 vehicles plus a carpentry and metalworking shop. The consolidation at a single site was initiated by the public works department, whose previous facilities required renovation. Synergies emerge through shared spaces at the interface between the fire department and public works, including the washing facility, automotive workshop, as well as a conference room and training space.

A structural "joint" articulates the different uses of the two building sections—the hose tower and the height differential resulting from the sloping terrain. Yet their unified material expression in exposed concrete binds them into a cohesive whole. The 60-centimeter-thick walls employ lightweight concrete, which naturally regulates indoor climate. This material aesthetic extends into the interior spaces. "What fascinated us was the possibility of using lightweight concrete both inside and out to achieve finished surfaces that require neither additional aesthetic nor building-physics layers," explains architect Helmut Dasch. The result is a dynamic interplay between expansive solid wall surfaces and the glazing of windows and door openings. "We wanted to create a building whose appearance reflects what a fire department embodies: robustness, safety, reliability, and skilled craftsmanship," Dasch emphasizes. In response to the sloping site, the facility is terraced, with a ramp connecting the two courtyard levels. The fire department and public works have separate entrance and exit drives. The communications center at the building's head end offers direct sightlines into the first-dispatch vehicle bay as well as the entrance/exit and parking spaces. Extensive green roof planting serves as mechanical protection for the roof membrane and as a rainwater retention system.

www.dzpa.de

Photos:
Bernhard Tränkle
www.architekturimbild.de

Henrik Schipper
www.henrikschipper.de

(Published in CUBE Stuttgart 02|24)