Are you working on a new fire station project? Still sketching out floor plans, reviewing the site location, or in construction? Would an objective, third-party review of your project help? It’s never too early and could save time and, more important, money.
Lt. Nelson Rossy, facility planning coordinator, Dallas Fire-Rescue Department, previously attended annual Firehouse Station Design Conferences. He knew about the pre-conference program to meet face-to-face with an experienced architect at fire stations. Well, Rossy decided three of his projects were now ready to be evaluated by the 1-on-One team and while he was extremely excited, Rossy shared he was “highly concerned” too.
“Evaluation also meant criticizing my hard work with other architects—that wasn’t a good feeling,” said Rossy. “However, I felt confident that my attendance at this conference in years past would prove valuable and this was the opportunity to find out what the payoff was.”
During that 1-on-One meeting, Rossy met with three architects who took turns looking through his projects, sharing floor plans back and forth without saying much. Watching the architects and feeling not-so-confident, Rossy asked them to “be brutally honest and let me have it.”
“They asked a few questions on why I had done certain things or what drove me to make certain decisions. To my surprise, all the feedback was very positive,” Rossy said. “They had a few suggestions for maximizing space and/or helping noise reduction in my very common small sites and packed facilities. They were also very encouraging on the direction of designing transition zones and how these would greatly impact our firefighters’ safety.”
1-on-One
The Station Design Conference’s 1-on-One pre-conference program is one of the most popular programs of the conference. Held on a Monday, the day before the opening session, a small team of architects meets “1-on-One” to review registered attendees’ sketches, plans, or other materials for their facility projects. Sometimes it’s one chief or a building committee discussing goals and plans with a team member.
How did the 1-on-One program come about? Since 2006, we’ve worked with a group of five architectural firms specializing in fire station designs. After one conference, the group reviewed a few smaller departments’ design plans. The group strongly believed changes earlier in the design process saved more time and money. Afterward, the group proposed annual one-on-one meetings for an objective review.
One of the founding team members, Brian Harris, principal TCA Architecture + Planning, finds meeting one-on-one offers a unique opportunity to help one department’s project.
“We have had some "aha" moments when departments realize that their budgeting did not include soft costs or adequate contingencies or that they could see significant savings by not housing all of their reserve apparatus in an apparatus bay used for first-out apparatus,” Harris said.
Harris believes the review process is worthwhile. “As part of our 1-on-One sessions, we have seen complete site reorganizations, tuning up of operational space needs, right-sizing of facilities so they are future-ready, and complete plan reorganizations to support the mitigation of source contaminates,” Harris said.
The 1-on-One team does have one request; participation is limited to the department or municipal personnel. Project architects cannot participate in individual meetings. It’s a lot like going to another doctor for a second opinion; you don’t take your original doctor along.
Ongoing advice
The Station Design Conference pre-conference program is open to all registered, fire, law, and public safety individuals. While many participants are first-time attendees, some, like Dallas’ Rossy, return when the project is further along.
Katie Atwater, senior associate, LeMay Erickson Willcox Architects (now a part of FGM Architects) explained what the team frequently hears from previous 1-on-One attendees.
“We often receive follow-up calls and emails, months and even years later following up from a 1-on-One session to just get a non-bias perspective on design-related questions or systems input,” she said. “The fire service community is a small community, and we are all striving to collectively advance this unique facility type. We are happy to support this effort.”
The process of building a new station can take years. Atwater shared one example of a fire chief from a small jurisdiction who participated in the program and had been thinking of a new station for many years.
“The chief came to the table that year with existing conditions and a station location study but wasn’t sure where to go from there. We walked through some options and were excited to see that same chief return the following year having secured the support of his jurisdiction’s leadership in moving the process forward,” said Atwater. “Seeing the Chief excited to see his long-term vision starting to come to fruition really made me realize how important the conference and the personalized discussions of the 1-on-One program could be to attendees and departments.”
Long-term success
The 2023 1-on-One program will be held on Monday, May 22, the day before the Station Design Conference in St. Louis, May 23–25. A separate registration is necessary for the 1-on-One program, specifically to reserve a time to meet with one of the team members. While the individual meetings are being held, other topics are offered relating to station projects.
One other founding member, Dennis Ross, practice leader/senior advisor, H2M architects + engineers, commented on the meetings.
“We often sketch a layout or configuration that an attendee never thought possible or ever considered, and we watch as all the pieces fall together for them,” Ross said. “I believe that one of the best indications of the attendees valuing the time and experience is that almost everyone we meet with collects every scrap of paper, every sketch, every drawing, etc., and takes it with them.”
While the pre-conference 1-on-One is before the conference, Christopher Kehde, FGM Architects, reported, “Over the years, I have heard numerous attendees from the pre-conference 1-on-One’s share that they found that participating in [the program] helped them to prepare for the main conference and to better understand the presented information in context with their own potential projects.”
On the 1-on-One program, Rossy said, “I found the session extremely valuable and rewarding. All the changes I have been allowed to implement for Dallas Fire-Rescue in station design are a direct reflection of my attendance at various Station Design Conferences,” he said. “I am currently working on my seventh design with full confidence in the decisions being made to better serve our first responders while meeting safety, LEED, and budgets, amongst other objectives and requirements.”
Learn more about the 2023 Station Design Conference and the 1-on-One program at www.fhstationdesign.com/2023.
Janet A. Wilmoth | Special Projects Director
Janet Wilmoth grew up in a family of firefighters in a suburb of Chicago. Wilmoth, who is owner of Wilmoth Associates, worked with Fire Chief magazine for 27 years until it closed in 2013. She currently is the project director for Firehouse, overseeing the Station Design Conference.
