In Quarters: Pingree Grove & Countryside, IL, Fire Protection District Station No. 1

This facility received a Career 1 Notable award in the 2023 Firehouse Station Design Awards. Find the full list of winners here.

This new headquarters developed from the need to replace the aging Station 4 and to serve a growing community around the Plato Center, IL, area. The new headquarters station incorporates much-needed spaces for the district to operate efficiently, such as new offices for administrative staff, training offices and code review offices. The design includes a community room that’s used for district board meetings and for classroom training of firefighters who not only work for the district but other surrounding firefighting agencies.

Located on a 10½-acre site, the headquarters station’s design accommodates future needs and growth. It allows for expansion for the training of firefighters by positioning the community/training room, future parking spaces and a planned prop burn pad in locations that are expandable easily as the department develops its training program service offerings.

The facility’s design also considers the effect of future pandemics via a forward-thinking approach to firefighter safety. Similar to the modern fire station design approach to reduce the spread of carcinogens within the facility and limit exposure within apparatus bays, this design expands that approach by including clean vestibules. The clean vestibules incorporate handwashing stations at every door from the apparatus bay that leads to the administrative and the living sides of the building, which reduces the spread of hazardous particulates and viruses from firefighter exposure to the rest of the facility.

Architect/Firm Name: Dewberry