In Quarters: Orlando Fire Station No. 11

This facility received the Career 1 Notable award in the 2024 Firehouse Station Design Awards. Find the full list of winners here. 

Fire Station No. 11 is a four-bay station that’s designed to meet stringent survivability and functional criteria and to create civic architecture that fosters pride in the community. The station was integrated into an existing sports and recreation complex. The floor plan supports functionality and rapid response times and promotes firefighter health and safety.

Apparatus bays are separated from the living and working quarters by apparatus support areas with two airlocks that have positive pressurization to keep carcinogens out of the living quarters. A decontamination room that is equipped with an active decontamination unit and shower also serves to keep members safe from contaminants where they live in the firehouse. Sleeping quarters and active crew quarters have acoustic separation and advanced, individual signalization in each of the bunkrooms to allow for needed firefighter rest and recuperation.

The replacement station is home to 33 firefighters and four units (an engine, a tower, a rescue and a district chief ) and is designed to enhance operations while providing top-rate service, functionality and rapid response times to the community that it serves.

The state-of-the-art facility also further promotes firefighter health, safety and inclusiveness by including:

• Escalating emergency tones to reduce fatigue and heart-rate response.
• Individual crew bunkrooms and restrooms to accommodate and promote diversity in the workplace.

The station was designed to LEED Silver standards. It leverages two full arrays of solar panels to offset the station’s carbon footprint.

The finishing touch of the facility is the 80-foot mural on the east side of the main structure, which utilized the city’s 1 percent art requirement. Titled “Meanwhile at Fire Station 11...” the mural features a comic book-inspired depiction of firefighters and rescue teams springing into action to help their community.

Architect: Architects Design Group