Richardson Fire Training Facility & Emergency Operations Center

Richardson, TX

Quorum was architect of record for the city of Richardson’s new public safety training center. The 4.5-acre property nestled along Spring Creek and adjacent to Sherrill Park is part of an overall master plan that Quorum developed working with the city and with North Texas Municipal Water District to develop over several years. The LEED certified project totaled just over $7 million and included extensive site work. The exterior fire training props include vehicle extrication and trench and confined space rescue. The fire training building contains a 4-story training tower designed with multiple exterior facades to replicate different buildings found in the community. Inside there are multiple configurations and props for training exercises in a wide variety of environments and equipped to create live fires, providing realistic training for fire behavior and extinguishing. Each prop is individually controlled by the trainer and has multiple safety elements, including integral smoke and heat evacuation, interior room temperature sensors and air samplers.

The 11,500 square foot administrative building, designed by Quorum Architects, serves three primary functions – as an educational facility for Fire Department recruits and Citizen Fire academies, an Emergency Operations Center (EOC) and a back-up dispatch. This building takes advantage of natural lighting throughout, reducing the electrical load of interior lighting and improving the working conditions for staff. The windows incorporate high efficiency glass and the use of cantilevered sun shade devices. A plaza welcomes visitors to the building’s entrance and includes a memorial sculpture to honor lost firefighters.

Additionally, there is a 4,600 square foot equipment storage facility on site that includes two equipment bays and contains storage for apparatus used during training activities. This area may also be used for classroom training activities. There is also a small office for record keeping and registration for recruits or trainees along with an “outdoor classroom” area beneath a canopy for critiquing and reviewing training activities.