Projects

Williamstown Fire Station

Williamstown, MA

Overview

EDM provided programming and schematic design for a new fire station in Williamstown, MA. Williamstown's current, all-volunteer fire department responds to 240 calls per year and takes action from a 4,325 sq ft station on a 1/3-acre lot that was built in 1950. The station is no longer viable in its current configuration; the new station will be 22,500 sq ft and feature critical upgrades.

Williamstown has made a commitment to building a station that will be a shining example of sustainable design for public safety building, registering the project to comply with the strictest requirements of the International Living Future Institute’s Zero Carbon Certification. This requires no burning of fossil fuels on-site, and 100% of energy used on site to be created by renewable energy sources and to achieve a 10% reduction in the building’s embodied carbon. 

The design will utilize certain innovative systems and materials such as an all-electric VRF HVAC system, building AND ground mounted PV panels, low-carbon CMU, 100% recycled brick, triple-glazed windows, high-recycled content steel structure, and timber construction (where allowed), to name just a few strategies.

Resilience is also an important sustainable design feature of the exterior concepts. The exterior materials that have been selected provide the skin that will hold up to demanding northeast climate, but the site design was also considered when evaluating resilience of the project. The building is located close to wetlands and within certain regulatory flood plains. With the ever-changing climate our communities are faced with, it was important to the Town that we make sure this facility could withstand increasing extreme weather events. The design team placed the building on the site and at an elevation that will limit the possibility of future site flooding from the adjacent wetlands.

The design aesthetic of the building is in response to the Town’s desire to reflect the rich history of fire station design in the northeast. Utilizing brick and stone façade materials, arched bay door openings and gable roof forms complement the more modern large expanses of glass to give the building the timeless and inviting feel the community is expecting.