Engine Company 75
Bronx, N.Y.
Richard Dattner & Partners Architects

The Little Engine House that Could

© Pete Sprung

For more photos click on 'photos & drawings' above. To see the people and products behind this project click on 'people & products.'

Two fire department companies and a battalion chief share the first new firehouse built in New York City in fifteen years. Sited on a corner in a residential neighborhood, the new building uses striated, contrasting concrete blocks to express an essential civic function, while respecting the scale of the surrounding neighborhood. A corner tower recalls the fire observation towers once protecting New York.

The single-story apparatus floor at the street intersection allows fire vehicles to exit in four directions. An l-shaped, two-story building section surrounds the apparatus floor, housing dormitories for fire personnel on the upper level, and battalion offices, dining room, and kitchen on the lower level. On the east facade of the firehouse artist Mierle Ukeles has outlined a full-size ladder truck in concrete and glass blocks.

Formal name of building:
Engine Company 75, Ladder Company 33, Battalion 19

Location:
Bronx, N.Y.

Gross square footage:
13,650 sf

Total construction cost:
$3.7 million

Client:
N.Y.C. Dept of Design & Construction, Division of Structures — Fire Unit