A fire station made of wood
The Thalgau municipality of Unterdorf (AT) has had its own fire brigade since the 19th century. When renovating the building, the municipality made a conscious decision in favour of a new building in the small village and erected the first fire station in sustainable solid wood construction in the province of Salzburg.
Mayr-Melnhof Holz Gaishorn supplied around 300 m³ of PEFC-certified cross-laminated timber MM crosslam
for the project.
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Facts
- Start of planning
- January 2019
- Start of construction
- Ocotber 2019
- Completion
- May 2021
- Building owner
- Marktgemeinde Thalgau
- Architect/Planner
- sps architekten zt gmbh
- Timber construction company
- Winkerl Holzbau
- Material supplier
- Mayr-Melnhof Holz Gaishorn
- Material
The fire station of the Unterdorf fire brigade was built using cross-laminated timber construction with deliberately visible wooden surfaces. On the ground floor there is a kind of belly band, which extends the use of the fire station building. A vertical formwork made of firewood planks structures the main building. Split larch wood shingles were used as the façade material for the ground floor cladding.
Mayr-Melnhof Holz provided the cross-laminated timber for the roof and ceiling elements of the modern building.
Both the standby rooms and the training rooms are characterised by their cosiness and impressive spatial design. An exhibition area in the attic is used to display historical objects that demonstrate the long tradition of the fire brigade.
A significant contribution to the realisation of the project was made by the volunteer fire brigade community itself. This includes the numerous personal contributions of members of the fire brigade in Unterdorf as well as the free provision of wood for the new building, which comes from the forests of Thalgau farmers in the immediate vicinity. This donation of materials is a commitment that emphasises not only the dedication to the building task, but also to the material wood itself.
The focus during construction was on sustainability and energy efficiency, which is why a photovoltaic system was used for the energy supply, which not only covers the house's electricity needs, but also supplies electricity to the Thalgau municipal grid. The house is heated with ecologically generated district heating from a nearby wood chip plant.
The local natural material creates a timeless look. From the outset, it was agreed to erect an all-timber building - by no means a matter of course given the construction task, and in this respect a strong signal for the increasing acceptance of wood as a material.
The wooden fire station does not live from the glorification of the detail, but from the construction of the whole in relation to its important task.
Sources:
sps Architekten Broschüre, Holzfeuerwehrhaus Unterdorf
Photocredits: Andrew Phelps