Fire Station Pratteln

0092Fire Station Pratteln

The surround­ings of the fire station in Pratteln are charac­ter­ized by build­ings associa­ted with the chemical industry. Echoing the stain­less steel silos in the imme­diate vici­nity, the concrete build­ing is encased in perfo­rated, untrea­ted aluminium sheet­ing. The shimmer­ing cladding, with its verti­cal supports, masks the larger area of the windows, set behind it, giving the build­ing its sculp­tural character. The facade springs back on two sides. Located there behind tall glass portals is the large vehicle depot that houses the fire en­gines. The floor and walls of the two-story hall are painted in a powerful signal red.

An L-shaped, two-story func­tional build­ing accom­mo­dates the garage. The plan of the elon­gated build­ing was deter­mined by the opera­tional flow and orga­ni­zation of fire­fighting pro­ce­du­res. Located on the ground floor are, among other things, the work­shop, the hose-washing facili­ties, as well as the storage depot. Most of the rooms are acces­sible from the inside as well as from the outside — abso­lutely essential during a deploy­ment. The fire­fighters reach the upper story via two stair­cases that are set along the two narrow ends of the build­ing. A long, narrow, gallery that runs along the vehicle depot affords views into the space from above while provi­ding access to the other levels. Via sky­lights, the corri­dor is illumi­nated with day­light. Found in the upper story are the control centre and the con­ference room, among other facili­ties.