The Southwest’s wide-open spaces don’t always offer the right place for a fire station.

The Goodyear (Ariz.) Fire Department needed a new fire station on a 1.1-acre plot outside a gated community, golf course and a shopping center. According to Deputy Chief Mike Ullman, the small space was a real challenge, complicated by heavy road traffic.

“We had 26 different site plans,” said Ullman. “It took a lot of patience on everybody’s part.”

Goodyear found that Lawrence Enyart, FAIA, LEED AP, LEA Architects, was just the person for the challenge. He and his firm, Ullman, and Neil Barton, Goodyear’s project manager, formed the project team.

Fire Station No. 185 is the fourth station Enyart designed for Goodyear. This $3.3 million, two-bay station features a contemporary design comprised of detailed block masonry and exposed steel supporting a continuous pitched metal roof. The 11,000-square-foot facility includes two drive-through apparatus bays; living, kitchen, and dining areas; private dormitories; and administration offices. A secured area separates the police office and entryway from the living area.

“The building is skewed on the site at about a 45° angle to the road,” Enyart said. It was a very tight and challenging turning radius.”

Enyart and Goodyear Chief Mark Galliard met with 200 members of the community to address questions about the new fire station. After negotiating with the gated community on landscaping, Enyart and his team used the drive-through model so that the apparatus would have full turning radius and be able to get into the gated complex or turn the opposite direction, taking into consideration heavy traffic and golf carts, as well as a tunnel under the roadway for the golf carts.

NFPA 1500 design strategies were used through the design and incorporated features that allowed for natural daylighting, ventilation and sound control. Interior masonry thermal mass wall storage, water harvesting, interior ground concrete floors with lamp black/fly ash, recycled steel structural frame and recycled metal roofs are some of the sustainable materials used in the station.

One unique feature of the Goodyear fire stations and a signature of Enyart’s is the lighting that is designed into the columns. Diffused, soft tinted glass and low-watt bulbs are included in the exterior design. Enyart believes a community doesn’t want an over-lit building, but instead a standout in subtle design.

Ullman said the community is pleased with the location of the fire station, which houses an engine company and runs ALS. “Every day the people are stopping by with fresh-baked cookies,” he said. “They just love having the fire station right there.