Fire station & mountain rescue centre, Mellau (AT)
New building
Client: Municipality Mellau
Location: A-6881 Mellau, Platz 500
Architecture: Dietrich Untertrifaller
Design: Helmut Dietrich
Competition: 2003, 1. prize
Construction: 2004 – 2005
Area: 1,040 m²
Programme: Vehicle hall, training and recreation rooms
Photos: Bruno Klomfar
Team
Ralph Broger (Project management), Eva Dorn, Raphael Grups, Felix Kruck
Text: Gerlinde Jüttner
Partners
Statics: Mader & Flatz, Bregenz / building services: Dür, Lauterach / electrics: Meusburger, Bezau / landscape: Barbara Bacher, Linz / construction management: Winkel, Mellau
Local barns as a model
Although the hose tower and vehicle hall are the unmistakable insignia of a fire brigade, the project cannot be clearly categorised. We utilised the terrain level to distribute the different tasks: From the upper road, a bridge leads to the recreation rooms, hall and command centre. The lower road widens out into the square in front of the vehicle hall. This means that nothing prevents rapid deployment.
The hall with the workshops is made of concrete, the upper floor of wood. The house and the tower for drying the hoses are characterised by balanced proportions and an alternation of open and closed: open, glazed long sides, closed front sides. Local barns were the model for this.
The different design of the base and upper floors also reflects the different uses: the vehicle hall with changing rooms and workshops is located in the solid base. In order to have everything in view, the command centre is slightly elevated between the main entrance and the vehicle hall.
A solid plinth at the bottom
The base storey of the vehicle hall, solid for fire protection reasons is topped by a timber-clad shell. An upper wooden storey has been placed offset on top. This gives the building a dynamic profile that shields the north-west-facing gates of the hall. Planed silver fir boards were vertically attached to the façades with groove and comb, which weather and integrate the building into the rural village landscape.
A timber structure at the top
The cantilevered upper floor on the west side is built as a timber construction. It is extensively glazed on both sides and contains a training and team room, a youth room and the fire brigade office as well as the recreation room and the operations control centre for the mountain rescue service. Separate staircases for the fire brigade and mountain rescue service provide independent access, but the continuous corridor also allows a direct connection.
Independent access
Separate staircases for the fire brigade and mountain rescue service provide independent access, but the continuous corridor also allows a direct connection. The ancillary rooms projecting into the corridor are clad in red MDF panels as a contrast to the wooden surfaces of the common areas.
