Inside the lobby of the Madison (Wis.) Fire Department’s headquarters, an autographed photo of the 1970s hit TV show Emergency! hangs on the lobby wall, nestled among firefighter memorabilia and collectibles. Randolph Mantooth, as paramedic John Gage, is sitting at the kitchen table sipping his coffee while Kevin Tighe, as paramedic Roy DeSoto, reviews Station No. 51 reports, with the morning’s breakfast dishes drying on the counter behind them. Two wood tables pushed together and surrounded by eight chairs welcome the crew, perhaps the most common setting in this rescue drama and arguably the best TV kitchen of its time.

It’s clean, it’s modern — and it’s loaded. There are four — count ’em, four — wall ovens and a slew of cabinets, a recessed refrigerator and a six-burner range with oversized hood. Eat your heart out, Cooking Channel; this highly functional kitchen had it all — some 35 years ago.

There’s good reason to make these spaces so well-equipped and inviting. Aside from the apparatus room, firefighters spend more time in the kitchen than any other room in the firehouse. Three square meals, reading, working and conversation keep the kitchen buzzing throughout the day, pointing to the need for thoughtful layouts. Fire-station planning has placed a high priority on the innovative design, equipment and furnishings of its kitchens since the invention of the fire pole, while fostering a welcoming sense of place and the comforts of home. In today’s fire-station kitchen, tradition can balance modernism, and warmth can complement high performance. These concepts have come together to make the kitchen of the Madison Fire Department’s newest station, everyone’s favorite room in the house.

Just as on the set of Emergency!, the four-person crew of Fire Station No. 12 prepares a healthy lunch and sits together like a family. While this LEED Platinum–certified station outperforms its peers in terms of energy conservation, its consideration of staff needs goes beyond optimal mechanical efficiency, and this starts in the kitchen. Here, individual comfort control and access to natural light, beautiful views and fresh air is equally important to ensure that the crews are at their physical and mental best to perform their duties.

Effectively siting the station and locating the kitchen can have a positive impact on the well-being and morale of staff. In Madison, the best kitchen location is on a south-facing exterior wall, because the space is washed in light throughout the day. In addition, the entire south wall of the kitchen is filled with windows, providing a panorama of the wetlands and wild prairie beyond.

“Our views outside are the best anywhere, and we have the most breathtaking sunsets of any fire station,” said Firefighter Lisa Van Buskirk.

From everywhere in the kitchen, the crew is afforded with daylight views, whether cooking at the range or sitting down for meals. This opportunity to see outside from all areas of the kitchen may be the most important link to the comforts of home. The windows are operable, lending to the sense of being in one’s own kitchen and having control over one’s environment.

Dining al Fresco

Another aspect of home brought to Madison Fire Station No. 12 is the extension of the kitchen to the outdoors. Along the entire south wall is a 2,000-square-foot pergola-covered patio where outdoor grilling, dining, gardening, reading and interaction offer the crew amenities not often experienced in the work environment. All of these outdoor activities adjacent to the kitchen promote camaraderie as well as healthy lifestyles. For example, getting outside in the sun is very important, as it is the only way to kick-start the body’s production of Vitamin D.

While north-facing outdoor environments can be unbearable many months out of the year, south-facing patios can make it pleasant to be outdoors on sunny days, even in the cold “cabin-fever” months.

A brick planter wall encloses the patio area beneath a canopy of red cedar beams to create an inviting outdoor space. The healthy meals prepared on the patio or indoors start from fresh ingredients grown in the thick planters that provide 150 square feet of nutrient-rich gardening soil. Planting and tending to vegetables is not just good exercise, but is also a terrific stress-reducer. Our first responders deal with harrowing situations and dangerous environments on a regular basis, so the calming effect of a garden is most welcome. What’s grown is up to the crews. Red peppers, tomatoes and herbs thrive in this garden, which is watered from two nearby barrels that collect and store rain from a projecting horizontal sunshade. (Chives are grown on the green roof above the kitchen, if a recipe calls for an added crunch.)

No potable water is used in the garden, on the roof or anywhere else on site, as a composition of drought-resistant plants and light-colored stone make up the landscape, instead of maintenance-intensive turf grass. This approach is called “xeriscaping,” and is built on a conscious effort to conserve water throughout. An additional benefit is that the stone landscaping keeps the patio pest-free, by providing a buffer between the outdoor eating space and stormwater retention zones where mosquitoes frequent. The crews from Station No. 12 have taken their environmental stewardship further by installing a food composting bin in the corner of the patio, which eliminates the food waste that exits the site, and improves the quality of the vegetables coming out of the garden. There is a real sense of ownership and pride in the firefighters’ choice to purchase and use a composting bin, another indication that the new station’s kitchen environment has become a second home.

Beyond the positive impact of daylight and attractive vistas on the well-being of the firefighters, there are other important advantages to having access to so much natural light. Natural light minimizes reliance on artificial light, reducing electric and cooling loads. The most heavily used space in the building enjoys eight to 14 hours of sunlight each day, and the ability to avoid artificial light results in big savings on electricity.

Furthermore, in a colder climate like Wisconsin’s, the radiant heat of the sun provides physical warmth on chilly sunny days, which results in lower thermostat settings.

While the low-angle winter sun is admitted easily into the kitchen, the hotter summer sun is blocked by the horizontal sunshade and cedar pergola, and the resulting indirect sunlight reduces eye strain and enhances the enjoyment of spending time in the kitchen. Commercial-grade, brushed-aluminum blinds add additional control when necessary. In the evenings when artificial lighting is required, this modern kitchen relies on energy-efficient T-8 fluorescent fixtures in a lay-in ceiling grid augmented by under-cabinet task lighting. Over the food preparation area, the lay-in fixtures are direct down-light tubes with easily washable lenses that focus light on the task at hand.

Over the kitchen table, indirect basket-type lay-in fixtures bounce light for a more enjoyable dining experience. Together these system efficiencies contribute significantly to the station’s bottom line; energy bills for Station No. 12 are 60% lower than the average of all 12 Madison fire stations. Moreover, its annual energy usage of 35.5 kBtu per square foot is considerably lower than the 97 kBtu per square foot average of public-safety buildings across the country.

High Performance

The virtues of placing the kitchen on the sunny side of the station are notable, yet the ultimate success of the kitchen lies equally in its adjacency to other interior spaces. One can imagine that the kitchen of Station No. 51 on Emergency! — where Chet, Hank, Johnny and Roy scarf down the best four-alarm chili in Los Angeles County — lies at the physical heart of the design. In real life, as in the world of television, a centrally located kitchen is truly the hub of station activity, and the design of Station No. 12 thoughtfully placed this vital place in the middle of a circulation loop. Adjacent to the fitness room, media room and dormitory suite, the kitchen sits at the crossroad from either direction on the loop; as such, it fosters interaction and teamwork. It is where one can find the morning newspaper on the table, coffee brewing and a discussion of the day’s duties.

The kitchen’s location on the circulation loop does more than gather crew members for meals and conversation. More importantly, the kitchen is positioned strategically to reduce turnout time. Direct, immediate access to the apparatus room is crucial, and a straight-line path from the kitchen table connects firefighters quickly to Engine 12. There are no dead-end peninsula countertops, sharp corners or objects jutting into the path. The kitchen space is generous at more than 500 square feet, with space for the entire crew to move safely and swiftly to the apparatus room.

The kitchen can go from relaxed to hurry-up in a split second and the surfaces and finishes must be responsive to the wear and tear of a 24-hour environment. Non-slip sealed quarry tile keeps the firefighters sure-footed while its surface is easily cleaned with soap-and-water mopping. Dark grout is essential on the kitchen floor to hide scuff marks from boots that traverse throughout the day and evening. A durable and easily cleaned red ceramic tile runs full height above the base cabinets, drawing the eye toward the cooking end of the kitchen.

The showpiece on this wall is the stainless-steel Wolf Range that sits beneath a high-performance exhaust hood. Its six gas burners with flat grill and dual convection ovens serve any level of cooking in this commercial-grade environment where cooking for four can quickly double or triple during holidays and special events. “The public absolutely loves this facility,” said Lt. Rick Miyagawa. “At a booster club fundraiser, I offered a silent auction item called ‘Dinner at the Firehouse.’ It fetched a terrific donation, and I seared some awesome steaks on the Wolf range.”

The Wolf is not the only eye-catcher in this high-performance kitchen. A center island complete with pots and pans stored in plain sight convey that healthy scratch cooking is on the menu daily, and is something to be celebrated. Durable and mounted on casters, this artful centerpiece of the prep space offers plenty of storage and can be moved to support any configuration.

Additional work surface is provided by ample countertops rendered in charcoal tones above maple-printed laminate cabinets. A deep double-basin stainless-steel sink with commercial-grade faucet and sprayer make prep work easy and pleasant.

The aroma of a freshly cooked meal always has been associated with the firehouse kitchen. No other work environment has ever given such care to the space where meals are served and teamwork is built. With its location, layout, equipment and finishes, the modern fire station kitchen thoughtfully combines tradition and the comforts of home with innovation and performance. As a result, these highly functional facilities create a sense of place for firefighters and contribute mightily to the culture of today’s fire departments. The fictional John Gage and Roy DeSoto would feel right at home with the Madison firefighters. Their favorite room in the firehouse may never be the setting for a remake of Emergency!, but this real-life kitchen will run continuously, serving up the best experiences this side of Station No. 51.

John Holz is a partner with Plunkett Raysich Architects.