Aurora Fire Stations

The City of Aurora is an eastern suburb of Denver, Colorado, and has a population of around 404,000. It is the 52nd largest municipality in the United States. As a city like Aurora experiences growth, its emergency services and resources must expand and evolve to meet increasing demand, which is where the RS&H team steps in. The Aurora Fire Rescue is an all-hazards department with a total of 17 fire stations throughout the 165 square miles of the city. RS&H and the Aurora Fire Rescue teamed up to create facility assessments and prototypes for multiple fire stations throughout the city, inclusive of design and redesign, programming, concept developments, and cost estimation. 

Fire Station Facility Assessments & Prototype 

The city relied on RS&H to provide programming, concept developments, and cost estimates side-by-side with -Aurora Fire Rescue for a new prototype station they could implement across multiple designs. The design of the prototype helped standardize spatial relationships, mechanical and electrical needs, and other regulated requirements.  

To create this prototype, our team reviewed the existing stations and interviewed fire and rescue personnel as well as city staff and other stakeholders to develop a consensus-based design solution. We also provided a detailed space programming document with department priorities such as health and safety, operations, longevity, public use, security, and training. 

The team conducted facility assessments on seven Aurora Fire Rescue stations for both physical degradation and noted areas for design improvement. The RS&H team made recommendations for improvements to bring each station up to the preferred health and safety standards as defined by the Aurora Fire Station Prototype Design. 

The final assessment report listed individual projects from minor improvements like new plumbing fixtures to major additions such as apparatus bays and dorm wings, and provided schedules, urgency scales, and cost information for the improvements.

Prototype Fire Stations in Real-Time 

RS&H has designed four new fire stations for the City of Aurora since the prototype was developed. Each design varies based on the needs of the surrounding community and station, but the prototype gives the city and the design team a standard template to work with to ensure consistency in service abilities. The prototype station focuses heavily on the health and safety data, placing the bays and bunker gear lockers in a separate ventilated building – while the residential side is pressurized to keep diesel and other particles out. The following stations are examples of prototype-based projects the RS&H team has completed: 

Aurora Fire Station #5

Originally built in 1969, this station was given a full reconstruction after steadily becoming one of the busiest stations within the city limits. The station is in an established neighborhood of single-family residences. The station exterior design was modeled to fit in seamlessly with the area’s color palette and materials.  

Aurora Fire Station #15 & #16

Station #15 was designed in a newly developed area and included in the design was the ability to allow for expansion if needed in the future. Station #16 was designed with two floors of living and working space. The first floor kept up with daily living and operational needs, and the second floor held dorm rooms, utility spaces and restrooms. RS&H provided construction administration for both stations, reviewing shop drawings, attending weekly job site visits, and updating and organizing documents to keep the projects moving forward. 

Aurora Fire Station #9

Station #9 started as a remodel and addition of a 1970s-era station, Due to significant damage to the existing apparatus bay, during the design charrette the team and stakeholders determined it was more cost effective to demolish the existing structure and replace it with a new Pre-Engineered Metal Building (PEMB) that met all the design standards set forth by the original prototype. 

All these projects were essential to update emergency service resources for the communities within Aurora, CO, and the Aurora Fire Rescue employees. Building out prototypes and conducting assessments before embarking on the design aided project flow and provided the information our client needed to make good decisions about community and firefighter safety while ensuring funds were properly allocated.