Project Spotlight: Greenfield Fire Department Main Station
The Greenfield Fire Department in Greenfield, MA needed a new headquarters. The Department spent many years planning a new station and searching for the perfect site. However, before the Department could find a new location, the historic library adjacent to the existing station received a state grant to rehabilitate the existing structure and build a new branch. This grant was critical for the library, but they had limited time to use the funding. The existing fire station property and a municipal parking lot were required to become the new library site.
The Department was not ready to move out. Practice Leader Dennis Ross, AIA; Office Director Katrina Pacheco, AIA, NCARB, LEED AP, MCPPO; and Director of Operations David Pacheco, AIA worked with the City to help the Fire Department find the best possible site for a new home. For the duration of the site search and eventual design and construction process, the career Department operated out of temporary facilities designed by H2M on a City-owned parking lot. The final headquarters is the culmination of over a decade of design configurations, environmental challenges, and the Department’s request to meet the Massachusetts Building Stretch Code. The City of Greenfield held a ribbon cutting for its new fire headquarters on June 10th, 2024.
Few sites within the City’s downtown area had the space to fit all the Department’s needs and many had significant soil or existing building contamination issues. It was critical to the Department that the design not sacrifice their plans for a history of firefighting museum or the quality and operability of the station in favor of spending more of the budget on site selection. The H2M team’s design, presentation, budgeting, and feedback response skills helped keep the project within budget and fit with proper operational flow and circulation on the ultimate L-shaped Main Street site, despite an elevation change of almost six feet across the property.
The final design includes two buildings (the main headquarters and a storage annex), totaling 20,234 square feet. The station uses a ramp to address the elevation change with the five bays and training spaces on the lower end, and living spaces, bunks, and the museum on the upper end. The aesthetic is modern but historically sensitive, meaning that the station uses round windows in the gable roof ends with keystones from the original station as well as the materials, forms, and colors to complement the rest of the City.
Environmental sustainability was important to the client. In order to take advantage of a reimbursement program from the local electric utility, the station is designed to target an Energy Use Intensity (EUI) score of 35 or lower. An EUI score represents a building’s energy consumption relative to its size. Lower scores are more efficient. The station also meets the Massachusetts Stretch Code, which is an optional annex to the Building Code that requires buildings to be 30% more energy efficient than standard. The facility is all-electric, except for an emergency propane generator and a back-up propane boiler for the in-floor heating. The roof over the bays was designed to support the future installation of photovoltaic panels.
Several hundred community members attended the ribbon cutting, which included remarks from public officials such as Mayor Virginia Desorgher and Fire Chief Robert Strahan, followed by a tour of the facility. During the ribbon cutting ceremony, Practice Leader and Greenfield Client Manager Dennis Ross, AIA, thanked the entire design team and complimented the Fire Chief and Fire Station Building Committee for their focus, drive, and vigilance.
