City of Indianapolis , Fire Station No. 7 – This station, designed by AXIS Architecture + Interiors, features glass overhead doors with windows that lighten the masonry facades, flood apparatus bays with natural light, and create transparency and illumination at night. Remaining facades include textured masonry units, composite metal panels, and glass storefronts. Photo Courtesy of AXIS Architecture + Interiors.

Tips Courtesy of the Fire Industry Education Resource Organization (F.I.E.R.O.)

The following are 10 station design tips compiled by members of F.I.E.R.O. based on its jurors’ years of experience in designing fire stations as well as judging station designs for F.I.E.R.O.’s Fire Station Design Symposium awards entries.

1. Provide bath, locker, and laundry facilities that not only allow but promote firefighters leaving their uniforms at work. This reduces the chance for contaminants leaving the firehouse.
2. Provide places to hang towels and clothes in shower areas.
3. If you do not provide benches or seats in the shower area, enterprising firefighters will provide them for you.
4. Provide counter space in bathrooms for toiletries. Provide toiletry lockers as well if the sink area is separate from lockers.
5. Provide a reading light and an outlet at the head of each bed location.
6. Make sure sleeping pods or bed areas will accommodate long mattresses.
7. Lockers in sleeping rooms may be more private but lockers in locker rooms promote camaraderie.
8. Do you want camaraderie or separation? What will your station promote?
9. Open communal areas promote togetherness and family. Consider the kitchen and dining area as the heart of the firehouse.
10. More rooms and more doors mean more opportunities to separate. You can still achieve privacy without complete separation.