FDNY Fire Station

Engine Co. 268 and Ladder Co. 137 will be housed in a newly built FDNY fire station in Rockaway Park, Queens, sited at a prominent corner adjacent to the borough’s 9/11 Memorial.  Positioned along Jamaica Bay, the new station is designed with resilience at its core, incorporating flood-prevention strategies to safeguard FDNY responders and equipment from severe weather events.  The building is conceived as a “machine for service”—a durable, efficient, and community-focused facility that supports the daily work of firefighters.

The design is organized into two horizontal volumes and a vertical circulation tower.  The lower volume houses the Apparatus Floor, the Housewatch, and the Tactical Training program. Built to withstand potential flooding events, this lower volume is both utilitarian in program and resilient in construction.  The second volume contains daily living and workspaces, including the kitchen and dining area, company office, training rooms, stress reduction room, and quiet rooms. The high-performing thermal envelope blends solid masonry walls with areas of continuous glazing, reflecting the diverse program within.  A connecting stair tower is a third mass that is pulled outward from the building as a symbolic beacon; the tower features a continuous vertical glass window that fills the stairwell with natural light and glows at night, signaling the FDNY’s presence to the community.   Through the interplay of these volumes emerges programmed outdoor space: a covered parking area for Tactical Training to the east and a roof terrace to the west that overlooks the bay.

The design incorporates several sustainable, LEED-focused strategies, including a high-performing thermal envelope, solar hot water panels that provide heated water for the building, a vegetative green roof that reduces building heat loads, operable skylights that provide passive ventilation, and a large stormwater retention system that mitigates stormwater loads on the city’s infrastructure.

Rooted in its setting, the firehouse establishes a deliberate dialogue with its context. The main entrance aligns directly with the neighboring 9/11 Tribute Park, reinforcing the relationship between the station and the memorial. Along Beach 116th Street, a landscaped public frontage will welcome the community, highlighted by a series of glass murals by artist Andrea Belag, celebrating the history of the FDNY and the Rockaways.