The existing City of Burlington Fire Station No. 3 has been temporarily located in an existing manufacturing building for several years. With a new station in a new location, the city sought to increase service coverage, reduce response times, provide up-to-date facilities and amenities for staff, and provide opportunities for training.

The new 10,600-square-foot station on a wooded site across from a residential neighborhood achieves and builds on the city’s goals. The single-story station includes two drive-thru apparatus bays, five dorm rooms and a modern living quarters. Response times will be reduced by creating a direct path from dorm rooms and living spaces to the apparatus bays. The dorms and living areas incorporate biophilic design to help reduce PTSD and promote cognitive ability, reduce stress, and foster overall mental and physical well-being. The dorm rooms specifically are designed to challenge convention through proportions, materiality, natural light, ventilation, and access to views of the wooded surroundings, which inspired the exterior design’s materiality.

The natural wood exterior unifies the living spaces and the apparatus bays while also reducing the building’s carbon footprint by using a biogenic, regenerative material that also reinforces the biophilic design goals.