The fire station is located at the very center of Guizhou Province, in South-West China.
The building is designed following a trapezoidal shape, which carries on the shape of the mountain. It gradually grows in between two 30m high trapezoid-shaped picks, creating an iconic slope, from which only few elements pump out: the training tower and the white central hall. The design of this ‘Honor Hall‘ is different from the rest of the building, aiming to create a holy space. A thick white and deep shadows characterize this space, used for ceremonies where to reward brave firemen.
Project name: Guizhou Fire Station
Location: Gui’an New District, Guizhou Province, China
Program: Rescue and Training Center, Offices, Educational Area, Honor Hall
Start/Completion: March 2014 – June 2017
Site Area: 36.828 sqm
Built Area: 13.890 sqm
Main Building: 4 floors
Training Tower: 8 floors
Parking lots: 62
Lead Architects: Haobo Wei, Jingsong Xie
Architectural team: Hongsen Kang, Minghua Ou
Structure: Yuanping Li, Dingping Fu, Xiaoqiang Yang
Equipment: Hongbo Shi
Photographer: Haobo Wei
Text: Martina Muratori
All Credits: West-line Studio
The plan is quite complex, due to the morphological features of the site. The building is made by a succession of parallel bands to combine different programs and it is arranged on many levels. These are connected by outdoor corridors and boardwalks which, due to the mild temperatures, have been equipped with relax areas, reading rooms and sport equipment to encourage socialization.
The program involves many functions, from those strictly related with the rescue center activities to more public areas. The emergency rescue center includes a ‘Police Square’ and administrative and technical offices of fire fighting units. A big physical training and sport area has been designed for the firemen, with both outdoor and indoor activities, including a stadium, a swimming pool, several gym areas, ping pong tables and a tennis court. On the South-West corner are located the public functions, introduced by an iconic ‘Steps Square’. In this area of the complex we find public offices, external services and educational areas, linked by a sequence of open and covered courtyards. The white Honor Hall has been designed not only for ceremonies but also as an exhibition area open to the public.
In this complex of buildings, a severe and strong architectural style always meets open courtyards, some more wide and open, where to exercise and practice group sports, others more enclosed and quiet. The light also plays an important role giving different personalities to different spaces. While on the swimming pool and indoor sports playground we have a diffuse light, in the Honor Hall the light is ‘measured’ to highlight only few architectural elements and to create iconic shadows. Architects paid particular attention to the design of the staircase. Far from being only passages or connection between different floors, these cores have long cantilevered areas and their own lighting system.
FULL VERSION
The fire station is located at the very center of Guizhou Province, South-West China, near its main city, Guiyang. The building grows in between two steep trapezoid-shaped picks, 30m high, facing Huayan Road, an important road artery. It carries on the shape of the mountain creating an iconic red slope.
The whole complex is arranged in parallel groups starting from a single-slope trapezoidal section, taken as the basic unit. This basic unit has been used to create a common language between very different elements, from the small skylights until larger functional areas.
