Middleburg Volunteer Fire Dept

Located on a tiny, hilly site in the heart of Virginia’s rolling horse country, the 35 year old station housing the Middleburg Volunteer Fire Department had clearly reached the end of its functional life. The Department’s severely undersized and outdated facility was further compromised by a structurally failing roof and regular water damage in the apparatus bays. Responding to a growing sense of crisis, LeMay Erickson Willcox Architects designed a renovation/addition that rescued the Department with innovative thinking.

The compact 16,000 s.f. design demolished the cramped residential wing and replaced it with a new two story wing providing expanded staffing for 14 using semi-private bunkrooms. With the bunkrooms on the second floor, the main level is dedicated to operational spaces and a shared training/community room. The apparatus bays were retained and expanded with new bay support spaces and a training mezzanine. The exterior character of the building benefits from a simple, yet carefully considered palette of residential materials intended to blend into the neighborhood, while subtly announcing its presence as a civic building.

In order to address the critical need for secure all-weather protection of the apparatus throughout the construction period, a new roof framing support system was inserted through the existing roof and tied to the existing masonry wall piers. New roof trusses span the bays above the existing roof and provide new watertight closure for the apparatus. As an added benefit, bay height was increased to 18’ by carefully removing the existing roof structure once the new roof was in place.

The building is LEED Certified. Sustainable design strategies include low SRI roof, water use reduction/native plant species, cistern capture tanks to recycle water for training exercises/ engine fill, regional materials, and recycled content materials.