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A Machine for Fighting Fires: Ennead Architects’ Rescue Company 3

Ennead Architects' Fire Department of New York City Rescue Company 3 building is one of five special operations rescue facilities in New York City. The new 23,000-square-foot building for Rescue Company 3 in the Bronx is located on a mid-block site in an area largely occupied by light manufacturing buildings. In addition to fire fighting, these facilities respond to all manner of emergency scenarios: building collapses, subway emergencies, and scuba operations, all of which call for special (and intensive) infrastructure and equipment storage requirements. Image courtesy of Aislinn Weidele/Ennead Architects.

Ennead (formerly Polshek Partnership) designed the building to use structural concrete and ironspot masonry as primary materials. Bright "FDNY-red" bay doors identify the building in its neighborhood. Image courtesy of Jeff Goldberg/Esto for Ennead Architects.

Ennead's fire station is inspired by firefighters and their gear, and the design for this new firehouse reflects the tradition of invention, experimentation, efficiency, and rigorous training that characterizes the FDNY and its rescue companies. It's raw, exposed material palette and orderly, precise presentation of spaces brings a mechanistic, contemporary approach to fire station architecture, a building type often swathed in red brick nostalgia. Image courtesy of Aislinn Weidele/Ennead Architects.

The double height Apparatus Bay is the building’s primary theater of operations, with all programmatic elements radiating around and above it. Image courtesy of Aislinn Weidele/Ennead Architects.

Grey bricks break up the smooth presentation of the building’s concrete walls, offering a richer diversity of textures. A 35'0"-high Training Wall, which extends vertically through the building and pierces the metal shell of the building at roof level, is accessed from multiple levels and supports a variety of training exercises. Image courtesy of Aislinn Weidele/Ennead Architects.

Office spaces are located on the upper floor. Large expanses of glass create a visual connection between the Apparatus Bay and the second and third levels, reinforcing the primacy of the lower floor equipment bay. Image courtesy of Aislinn Weidele/Ennead Architects.

Physical work areas and storage occupy the ground and basement levels. The primary task Ennead faced with this project was combining a myriad of technological infrastructure requirements in a heavily used, relatively small space where efficient operation of machinery can literally be the difference between life and death. Ennead had to force these programs together, but express them in a way that was orderly, rational, and thoughtfully designed. The awards the project has garnered (<em>ARCHITECT Magazine</em>’s Annual Design Review and <em>New York Construction</em>’s Best of 2010 Award) indicate that’s exactly what happened. Image courtesy of Aislinn Weidele/Ennead Architects.

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