Lawrence D. McEwen Architects - Philadelphia, PA - Architecture, Master Planning, Public Open Spaces

TOWNSEND FIRE COMPANY TOWNSEND, DE COMPLETED 2002
This 13,500 SF, two-story headhouse addition transforms the identity of an existing 18,000 SF pre-engineered metal building from a truck shed into a gateway civic structure at the entry to Townsend, Delaware’s only public way, Main Street. The new firehouse, clad in brick, marble and zinc, takes its place with other Main Street structures such as the town school, church, and the original brick firehouse. By far the most striking image among the existing buildings, along the railway tracks at the western limit of town, is the towering row of grain silos, which inspired our “bookend” at the town’s eastern end, housing an exhibit space on the ground level and affording a panoramic view for the board room above. The emblematic bay window at the center of the facade provides a view to the countryside from the company meeting hall, also available to the Town Council. Through materials, massing and detail, the structure intends to contribute progressively to the constructed “substance” of the town while resonating with the simple volumes of the surround-ing farm buildings.