Caserne 34, located in the Saint-Hubert borough of Longueuil, is one of three new fire stations (alongside Caserne 12 and 41) built to expand the city’s risk coverage plan, providing a base for six firefighter teams who contribute to the agglomeration’s fire protection service. Erected on a 4600 m2 (49,514 ft2) plot, the new station underlines Longueuil’s ambition to focus on environmentally friendly building strategies. The city, determined to take a step forward in urban sustainable development, explicitly demanded timber for the construction, fully aware the material is not common for such a building.
The hybrid building shows how good coordination between architects and engineers can use the right material at the right place by combining solid wood, light wood framing (2-in x 6-in studs), and steel to increase the building’s efficiency. The garage highlights the design’s ecological focus with the use of Glue laminated (Glulam) timber columns (315 x 418 mm, height 7.2 m), combined with thirteen large black spruce Glulam roof beams (315 mm x 912 mm) spanning 16.3 m wide. Exposed cross-laminated timber (CLT) slabs (15.2 m x 2.4 m), with a thickness of 78 mm, cover the load carrying roof structure; while large glass panels let generous amounts of natural light flow in and emphasize the building’s organic structural elements, juxtaposed by its utilitarian/functional characteristics. The fire station Caserne 34 demonstrates the newfound confidence in modern timber building strategies while storing up to 290 tons of CO2 and meeting high fire safety requirements.
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