Providing life safety services in a modernized facility.
Located in Seattle’s Ballard neighborhood, Fire Station 18 was among the last stations to be remodeled as part of the city’s Fire Facilities and Emergency Response Levy Program. Recognizing the fire station as a vital civic building, the project enhanced the building’s connection to Northwest Market Street with an improved public entry and increased visibility into the apparatus bays.
The seismic upgrade, renovation and addition to Seattle Fire Station 18 achieves the programmatic goals for new stations, including individual bunk rooms for crew members, light- and temperature-controlled bunker gear storage, and expanded maintenance facilities. The project included structural and building systems upgrades, accessibility improvements, and the remodel of interior spaces to increase the facility’s safety, utility, and comfort. A new elevator makes all three floors accessible, while the energy-modeled envelope improvements significantly improve the building’s overall thermal performance. To meet the City of Seattle’s Sustainable Buildings and Sites Policy for municipal facilities, the project received LEED Gold certification and significantly improved the building’s overall energy performance through a combination of envelope, mechanical, electrical, and plumbing improvements. The project achieved LEED Gold certification with a new heating, ventilation, and air-conditioning system that uses 40% less energy than the previous system serving station operations and benefits from a vastly improved thermal envelope and LED lighting.