Parkway Fire Station

23rd February 2017

Fitzalan Square, Sheffield S1 2AY

Tour led by - Stephen Hill Architects

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We had a tour around the Parkway Fire Station in Sheffield, designed by Stephen Hill Architects and opened at the beginning of 2016.  Situated just outside of the centre of Sheffield, the station houses 3 fire appliances and sleeping, eating and training facilities for the firefighters over 2 floors.  

The tour was introduced by Stephen Hill the Architect and Vincent Smith the Head of Property, and led by Diane Parker one of the firefighters at the station.  From Stephen and Vincent we learnt lots of interesting things about the design of the building, working with the planning authority to come up with a scheme that would suit the green belt location and allow vehicles to be dispatched within time constraints to emergencies. From Diane we had some insight into building user issues that were things that we might not have even thought about.

It's always interesting to hear about the building from the perspective of the users, especially someone who lives, eats and works in all the spaces for long periods of time.  Did you know for instance that firefighters have to work out for an hour each shift and need facilities to do that, that the fireman's pole can only be used in an emergency, anything with an LED light in a dormitory will be taped over and that the kitchens have to be industrial to survive the high level of use?

It was a very informative tour and storm Doris gave us a little break in the rain to admire the exteriors too!