Burnaby Firehall No. 4 & No. 8
Burnaby Firehalls no. 4 + 8 are designed as two sister halls, but not as identical twins. Situated in Burnaby, British Columbia, the City of Burnaby commissioned JDa to design two similar but different firehalls to serve the people of Burnaby. They are the first IPD projects that the City of Burnaby has commissioned and the 2 + 3 out of 8 IPD projects that JDa is currently designing. JDa and the IPD team were tasked to fasttrack the design, pricing, and delivery of both these Firehalls, using Big Room meetings scheduled on a weekly basis to achieve dynamic progress. The Validation Phase was completed for both halls in 6 weeks, including a finalized space program, schematic level building design, Class 'C' Cost Estimate and Constructibility Plan. Both firehalls started in April of 2022, and were completed by December 2024.
Firehall 8 is situated on Simon Fraser University surrounded by residential, and university projects as well as and environmentally sensitive area; while, Firehall 4 is located directly opposite Squint Lake Park at the base of Burnaby Mountain, nestled carefully into an existing green belt. The budget for each hall, although slightly different in order to respond to specific siting conditions, is approximately $25M.
Each site is uniquely situated, allowing for a similar approach but with a specific architectural expression. Both buildings are sited to work with the existing slopes, accentuating the impact of natural light within the interior and the use of traditional “firehall” architectural language in a contemporary manner. Management of the environmental impact and minimizing the project footprint were important factors in the siting of the yard and the buildings on both sites. Each site had the design challenge of addressing ESA zones, steeply sloped sites, and complex site geometry to have success full outcome.
In addition, JDa designed this project to include a decontamination suite to assist fire fighters with minimizing the exposure of contaminates throughout the hall. This includes a decon washdown area, dedicated decon washroom, and separated gear storage.