Several years ago, Phoenix Fire Station No. 16 received the first-ever platinum designation of the Station Style Fire Station Design Awards. The judges felt that of all the fire stations submitted that year, Station 16 went above and beyond as far as operational design, interior and exterior function of the facility. In fact, it remains the only station to earn the platinum award.
Last week, I had the opportunity to tour Phoenix's newest facility, Fire Station No. 59, which is five weeks away from completion. I asked Deputy Chief Ken Leake what lessons the department learned during the design and construction of Station No. 16, and how those lessons may have altered the design of Station No. 59.
As it did with Station No. 16, Phoenix once again enlisted Larry Enyart of LEA Architects to design Station No. 59. As this new station is replacing an older fire station located on a 2-million gallon fuel-tank farm, Enyart opted to include a rounded front, resembling a large oil-holding tank.
The station also features windows in a staircase effect and an angular rooftop. The bi-fold bay doors are staggered, which creates an optical illusion that the doors are different sizes.
“Part of [the staggered design] was the energy-modeling. [Also] because we’re going to come out of the station and make a left turn, we felt it was advantageous to stagger and put the longer vehicle further back,” Leake said.
All Phoenix stations feature drive-through bays with bi-fold doors in the front and rising doors in the rear. Leake said he particularly likes the field of vision the the bi-fold doors provide drivers. “If something goes up past their eyelids, it’s out of sight and we’ve had a lot of problems with raised doors.”
Station No. 59 also has new sensors inside and outside the bay doors. One sensor sits in front of the vehicle. As the rig moves forward, the door will trigger the photoelectric eye; as the vehicle passes an embedded device in the concrete, it starts a timer that eventually will close the door.
“We don’t allow any control mechanism in the vehicle," Leake said. "The only way for the doors to shut is when they go past both sensors; then the timers start working."
The department treated the bay-area floor with a hardening agent to seal the surface and close the pores, which prevents oil or water from penetrating the surface. Leake pointed out small pieces of wire mesh in the concrete flooring — like metal bobby pins — that stop structural cracking in the concrete. “Usually nylon or polyester is added to stop cracks, but this is metal and used a lot on the east coast,” he said.
The department also took a different approach to air filtration, and Station No. 59's is specially designed. Large wall vents on both sides of the bay are designed to suck in the exhaust from both low and high levels.
“There are two components to diesel soot — one is heavy and one is light — and if you don’t build some sort of an extraction system at the bottom, you’re not really pulling the soot out of the space,” Leake said. “This was a big improvement over Station No. 16. Anytime a door opens or closes, it automatically starts the system.”
But the most significant difference from previous Phoenix fire stations is that every light in Station No. 59 is on a photo sensor, so there are no lights on in the fire station during the day. Designed with plenty of natural lighting from high windows and glass walls, lighting needs are greatly reduced. The exterior patio area is covered with a photovoltaic canopy to provide energy for the station.
The fence around the front of Station No. 59 also caught my attention because it’s made up of 6-foot-tall, rust-colored metal posts, several inches apart. “There’s no scaling that fence,” Leake said.
You can still count on Phoenix to be on the cutting edge of station design.
