The Spring Volunteer Fire Department‘s Station No. 78, located north of Houston in Spring, Texas, was originally built in 1971. As part of one of the fastest growing metropolises in the United States, the area Fire Station 78 served grew tremendously over the past 44 years. As the third largest combined fire department in the state, currently the Spring Fire Department provides emergency services to a population of approximately 125,000 people across 110 square miles. With today’s needs and size of the apparatus and equipment, a new facility was necessary and construction commenced.
Ricardo Martinez, architect and vice president of Houston-based Joiner Partnership Inc., designed the new facility to not only accommodate its current needs, but also equip Fire Station 78 with the space to support the needs of the department and the community for the projected future. With a long service life in mind, a metal standing seam roof was selected for the project.
Designed to withstand the most rigorous weather conditions, approximately 7,000 square feet of Houston-based MBCI‘s SuperLok standing seam metal roof panels were used on the structure. The panels were 24 gauge and 16 inches wide with a Signature 300 Medium Bronze finish.
In addition to the standing seam metal roof, approximately 2,000 square feet of Artisan Series panels were used as soffits on the fire station. Manufactured in a 24 gauge with a 12-inch width, the panels were also coated in a Signature 300 Medium Bronze to match the SuperLok panels.
“The aesthetic appearance of the pitched metal roof panels and soffit panel profiles were large determining factors,” says Martinez. “They also were concerned with solar reflectivity and maintaining energy performance of the building envelope.”
MBCI’s Signature 300 Medium Bronze is a cool roof coating with a 0.25 solar reflectance, a 0.83 thermal emittance and a Solar Reflectivity Index (SRI) rating of 22. Although not the highest of ratings, Medium Bronze does provide properties to reflect and emit the sun’s heat instead of absorbing and conducting it to the building, decreasing fire station’s energy costs.
The design did not come without challenges. A larger facility and additional equipment was needed to support the increased demand, yet the facility was restricted to the size of their existing lot. “The site is located on 1.2 acres with a building footprint of 15,144 square feet and a site paving area for parking and maneuvering clearance of 25,500 square feet,” says Martinez. “The requirements for the equipment demanded a large area for maneuvering and a clear-span apparatus bay.”
Additionally, a 100-foot ladder truck, engine and pumper truck were to be stored in the station’s bay. This massive equipment and apparatus required a high volume, clear-span area to be incorporated in the building’s design. The safekeeping of this equipment was also considered with the durability of the building materials.
The facility’s design was so well received that it was replicated three times. Two of the fire stations featured flat roofs with high roofs as accents. “Although the facility maintained the same floor plan the owners wanted to accent the exterior aesthetics of the facility,” says Martinez. “The roof played an integral part of this accomplishment.”
The roofing contractor was Cotton Roofing and the general contractor was
Brookstone Construction, both of Houston.
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Amy Crenan is the marketing coordinator for MBCI, Houston. For more information, visit www.mbci.com.