The site is located along Zuiderval, a main
north-south lane leading to the city of Enschede
from highway A35.
The open and green character of the site is
immediately noticeable and enhanced by a refined landscaping of the public
space. The site itself, 75m north-south and 100m east-west, is in essence a true
park with remarkable trees: beautiful beeches, plane trees and oaks.
The building is L-shaped. A main, four level building block is located along
the north side of the site. Perpendicularly to it, a smaller wing stretches
along the east border.
The entrance is situated at the base of the two wings.
The garage, comprising thirteen bays for the fire engines, is housed on the
ground floor of the main building in a double storey high volume with glazed facades
and doors. The firemen cloakrooms and showers have direct access on the other
side to the workshop spaces, warehouses.
Together with the reception room, the meeting and
class rooms form an entity and are located on the east corner of the main
building on the first floor.
A fully transparent sports hall with its double storey
height (second and third floor) marks the north-west upper corner of the
building.
The firemen’s rooms are situated on the second floor;
the third floor is devoted to the office spaces. A glazed, parallelepiped
shaped volume accommodates the elevator, the main staircase and the firemen
sliding pole. Balconies running at the second
and the third floor, all around, act with the exterior free-standing staircases
as a second fire escape route. They also protect the wooden facade from a
direct rain exposure and allow for easy maintenance.
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