In Hayward, Calif., the city has just broken ground on a new and unique project: a fire station with a health clinic built in, CityLab reports.
Designed by WRNS Studio, the Firehouse Clinic will encourage local residents with limited healthcare access to consider them as an alternative to the emergency room, especially for preventive care.
To further this goal, the clinic will stay open from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. on weekdays, and patients are guaranteed appointments within 72 hours of their request. While the clinic will share the fire station's property, the building will be separate. With seven exam rooms and 2,400 sf, the Alameda County Health Care Services Agency expects 5,000 new patients to come through the clinic in its first two years.
"Essentially the idea is that fire stations, and fire fighters, are a trusted entity in the neighborhood," said Kyle Elliott, partner at WRNS Studio in San Francisco. "There's an EMT on site, typically, in a fire house. It makes a good symbiotic relationship to place a clinic adjacent to a fire house."
WRNS Studio's initial design was considered for multiple stations in Alameda County, given that it assumed an available parcel of land next to the fire station. According to Elliott, the firm hopes to encourage this model in other communities, since every community has a fire house and needs healthcare.
"Our job was to crystallize a vision, not the vision, and to articulate the guidelines and principles to think about," Elliott said. "There were discussions about investigating something added onto an existing building, or reusing a part of an existing building. Those are very plausible solutions for communities."
Related Stories
Building Owners | Aug 23, 2023
Charles Pankow Foundation releases free project delivery selection tool for building owners, developers, and project teams
Building owners and project teams can use the new Building Owner Assessment Tool (BOAT) to better understand how an owner's decision-making profile impacts outcomes for different project delivery methods.
Transportation & Parking Facilities | Aug 23, 2023
California parking garage features wind-activated moving mural
A massive, colorful, moving mural creatively conceals a newly opened parking garage for a global technology company in Mountain View, Calif.
Giants 400 | Aug 22, 2023
Top 115 Architecture Engineering Firms for 2023
Stantec, HDR, Page, HOK, and Arcadis North America top the rankings of the nation's largest architecture engineering (AE) firms for nonresidential building and multifamily housing work, as reported in Building Design+Construction's 2023 Giants 400 Report.
Giants 400 | Aug 22, 2023
2023 Giants 400 Report: Ranking the nation's largest architecture, engineering, and construction firms
A record 552 AEC firms submitted data for BD+C's 2023 Giants 400 Report. The final report includes 137 rankings across 25 building sectors and specialty categories.
Giants 400 | Aug 22, 2023
Top 175 Architecture Firms for 2023
Gensler, HKS, Perkins&Will, Corgan, and Perkins Eastman top the rankings of the nation's largest architecture firms for nonresidential building and multifamily housing work, as reported in Building Design+Construction's 2023 Giants 400 Report.
Higher Education | Aug 22, 2023
How boldly uniting divergent disciplines boosts students’ career viability
CannonDesign's Charles Smith and Patricia Bou argue that spaces designed for interdisciplinary learning will help fuel a strong, resilient generation of students in an ever-changing economy.
Apartments | Aug 22, 2023
Key takeaways from RCLCO's 2023 apartment renter preferences study
Gregg Logan, Managing Director of real estate consulting firm RCLCO, reveals the highlights of RCLCO's new research study, “2023 Rental Consumer Preferences Report.” Logan speaks with BD+C's Robert Cassidy.
Shopping Centers | Aug 22, 2023
The mall of the future
There are three critical aspects of mall design that, through evolution, have proven to be instrumental in the staying power of a retail destination: parking, planning, and customer experience. This are crucial to the mall of the future.
Affordable Housing | Aug 21, 2023
Essential housing: What’s in a name?
For many in our communities, rising rents and increased demand for housing means they are only one paycheck away from being unhoused. It’s time to stop thinking of affordable housing as a handout and start calling it what it is: Essential Housing.
Healthcare Facilities | Aug 21, 2023
Sutter Health’s new surgical care center finishes three months early, $3 million under budget
Sutter Health’s Samaritan Court Ambulatory Care and Surgery Center (Samaritan Court), a three-story, 69,000 sf medical office building, was recently completed three months early and $3 million under budget, according to general contractor Skanska.
