2010
Location
St. Gallen, Switzerland
Client
Baudepartement des Kantons St. Gallen Hochbauamt
Project Status
Competition
The proposal for the new learning center of St. Gallen Fire Brigade is based on a general interpretation of the site and the relationship between construction and landscape. The topography led to a radical strategy in terms of building settlement and volumetric compactness, taking advantage of the deep slope rather than viewing it as a critical aspect.
The extreme south of the site, close to the existing parking area, constitutes the natural access to the new building, which has an extremely reduced scale when viewed from this side, like a small private building. A steep road leads to the main room for fire engines and vehicles, the dimensions of which determine the width of the building. The complexity of the brief and the need for separate entrances is resolved in the section through horizontal layers determined by the degree of privacy of the activities. This layering strategy is also due to optimization of the heights of the spaces and the activities taking place inside them.
Reinforced concrete double shells define the volume in which ribbed slabs cover the entire width of the building: this structural concept ensures simplicity in construction and greater flexibility in the organization and adaptation of the space. The monolithic mineral character of the building is reinforced by some porosity carved into the volume: the entrance, the common terrace, the rooms patios, the man fire engine room are shadowed signs in the white mass.