This facility received the Career 2 Silver award in the 2024 Firehouse Station Design Awards. Find the full list of winners here.
Fire Station 46, which is known affectionately as the “Beach House,” occupies Mandalay Bay Waterfront Park, which is situated on the Gulf of Mexico. This historic site has hosted a fire station since 1920. The current iteration is a modern, resilient and sustainable station that honors the past while providing a safe and healthy living environment for many years to come.
The project initiated with an evaluation of the existing fire station, contemplating potential relocation or renovation. The decision was made to rebuild the existing station within the park, providing elevated positioning, integration with existing park structures, heightened community presence, and improved entry and exit safety.
The beachfront location introduced unique challenges to the project, requiring strategic thinking in logistics, base flood elevation (BFE), foundation design and break-away walls to meet FEMA requirements. The foundation consists of a 30-inch mat foundation that’s located under the scour line, with columns that are stubbed up to an 8-inch slab. All lower walls that are below BFE are designed to break away from the superstructure of the building as a means of reducing the likelihood of total building failure in the event of a major flood or storm-surge event.
The design of the 11,490-sq.-ft., two-story facility accommodates two-and-a-half garage bays for apparatus and ATVs, offices, a dayroom/kitchen, an expanded number of private sleeping quarters, a designated triage area for beach walk-ins and a fitness room.
Notably, this station is built to withstand hurricanes and major storm events, with a structural design to endure wind speeds that are in excess of 157 mph.
Understanding the station’s importance to the surrounding community, design elements that pay homage to the previous station include reuse of the original fire station’s fire poles, bollards, decorative door moldings and signage.
Architect/Firm Name: WJArchitects
