CITY OF BOISE STATION 4
Station 4, built in the 1970’s in the historic Ustick Neighborhood, was originally intended to be a remodel. After an in-depth evaluation, it was determined to be more cost effective to redesign and construct a new station on the existing site then renovate the current station. Capitalizing on this opportunity, the City of Boise determined that the new 13,800 sf station should be used as a catalyst to further revitalize the historic past of the community. Taking direction from city staff, the station incorporates many design characteristics found in early 20th century buildings in the area by providing a strong street orientation, the use of historical building materials such as brick and stone, the integration of arches, and the incorporation of a small public square for the community. While the station reflects aspects of the past, the station also is an example a new vision of urban growth in the community. Programmatically, the station includes three pass-through bays with a bay exhaust system, individual sleeping rooms with gender neutral toilet/shower rooms, kitchen/dining area, offices, firefighter work areas, and apparatus support space and specialty equipment. Given the site limitations, the station is a two-story structure with sleeping rooms located on the ground floor for increased turnout efficiency. To maximize durability and long-term flexibility, the station was constructed using a steel frame system with masonry cladding, and cleanable firefighter resistant finishes. This project was designed using the new Boise City Green Construction Code which has many parallel targets as LEED but is focused on regional objectives. Concurrent to this project, the team design a similar fire station 8 for the City using LEED V4 to better understand certification costs, performance and public perception reaction. The intent of this effort is to compare the two projects sustainable attributes to further inform public policy moving forward.
TCA Fire Station Specialist Architect, Cole Architects Architect of Record