Schoyerer Architekten_SYRA

Statics: Grebner Ingenieure, Mainz
Electric facilities: Büro Hörbert, Darmstadt

Existing Conditions

The new building for the Volunteer Fire Department in Rüsselsheim-Bauschheim is located within a heterogeneous residential context characterized by single-family homes and multi-story buildings with hipped and gabled roofs.

In terms of scale, number of stories, and roof form, the new structure responds sensitively to its surroundings. While it integrates into the existing urban fabric, it simultaneously establishes a distinct architectural identity.

Concept

The fire station is conceived as a compact, monochrome volume into which precise incisions have been made. The design principle can be described as a sliced body — comparable to a loaf of bread or a kiwi — revealing a tension between a taut, dark outer skin and bright, sharply defined cut surfaces.

The uniform brown-olive façade forms a calm backdrop for the contrasting colors of the interior spaces and the fire engines. Despite a deliberately reduced number of window openings, the building achieves an unexpected degree of transparency for a fire station, with clear visual axes running through the structure.

Architectural Design

The building was constructed using conventional solid construction methods with rendered brick masonry walls, concrete floor slabs, and a shallow hipped roof supported by a timber roof structure. An integrated photovoltaic system is incorporated into the south-facing roof surface.

The compact building form minimizes the envelope area and reduces heat loss; energy performance requirements of EnEV 2009 are exceeded by approximately 30 percent.

A central corridor axis extends visibly from the rear section of the building through to the vehicle hall, flooded with natural daylight. The fully glazed vehicle doors create visual transparency reaching up to the upper floor.

A daylight-oriented cross axis organizes the upper level, linking the roof terrace, multipurpose room, and a bay-like spatial extension. After dark, these spatial sequences generate a striking luminous presence within the urban context.

Construction

The apparatus bay is designed to accommodate five emergency vehicles and is oriented toward Brunnenstraße with a generously projecting canopy. Through the fully glazed hall doors, the vehicles remain permanently visible — the fire brigade in standby mode becomes an architectural statement.

In addition to boot-washing and storage facilities, the ground floor accommodates changing rooms, sanitary areas, and a strict black-and-white separation. The program is complemented by offices, archive and training rooms, as well as a large multipurpose hall, allowing the building to function not only as operational infrastructure but also as a social anchor within the Bauschheim district.