Wayne County EMS Ambulance Base Headquarters

The state-of-the-art EMS ambulance facility has six bays which can house up to eight ambulances. It features a decontamination room, a conference room available for EMS and County use, administrative offices, a shared charting room, training facilities, and an exercise room. Lockers line a dedicated staff entrance which also connects to gender-neutral wash, toilet, and shower facilities that accommodate a mixed-gender staffing model. Quiet rooms provide space for rest between calls.

The hub of activity in any fire or EMS facility, however, is the kitchen. Cathedral ceilings with exposed wood roof beams and skylights make for a spacious, welcoming, open-concept great room with ample natural light. A seating and food preparation island separates the kitchen from the lounge, while varied seating clusters offer space for different activities. Exterior doors lead to a biophilic outdoor patio space adjacent to a garden, providing first responders an opportunity to destress and relax when returning from an emergency call.

The architecture is befitting of the site and its surroundings. Reflective of the nearby residential construction, the design includes fiber-cement clapboard siding and trim above a masonry water table, gable roofs with decorative wood bracket eave, and overhang supports reminiscent of craftsman style architecture.

With upfront value engineering, strong preliminary cost estimating, and regular budget evaluations, the project came in under budget! Construction types and building systems were thoughtfully selected based on current pricing and availability. Masonry bearing walls were used for the high bay apparatus bays and cold form metal framing for the living quarters and office area wing, with wood truss roof construction. Using materials that were most readily available at the best price, the mix-and-match material approach came together for a strong, aesthetically pleasing facility.