Snodgrass & Sons Construction Co., Inc.

Architect:

GLMV Architecture

Client:

City of Derby, Kansas

Scope Of Work

The City of Derby needed a bigger fire station for its growing community and one that was centrally located within the city limits. The previous fire station only had two bays, which couldn’t accommodate the city’s needs. The four apparatus bays are designed without columns to provide flexibility in parking four to eight firetrucks and room for firemen to maneuver in the space. The design team visited several different fire stations to see newer trends in fire station design. One of those being the bi-folding bay doors which can open as quickly as 7 seconds.

The previous fire station didn’t accommodate for women firefighters, so the women’s locker room was incorporated into the design. A decontamination room was also part of the project which allows firemen gear and self-contained breathing apparatus (SCBA) to be stored in a separate area from the living space. There have been incidences of cancer in firefighters which have been linked to some of the toxins that collect on firefighters’ gear hence the importance of the decontamination room.

The exterior pre-cast panels took a 120-ton crane to set each panel. The exterior brick was adhered to the pre-cast panels which was a unique process to the building. Also, the design team found programmable, 14’ wide x 20’ tall bi-folding bay doors.

The Fire Station has 18,000 square feet of energy efficient radiant floor heating.

A bronze statue outside the fire station honors previous City of Derby Director of Operations, Ted Austin. Ted served on the Derby volunteer fire department for 40 years retiring a few years ago. His father was one of the original Derby firefighters back in the 1950s and his son also served as a volunteer firefighter for some time. The statue was created by Derby artist John Parsons and was cast by a Colorado foundry.