Firm Credit : Fritzlen Pierce Architect
Description
In the early 1980s, the newly established residential subdivision of Wildridge in the town of Avon, Colorado required a fire station for its expanding community. The modest 2,500 sf building owned jointly by Town of Avon and the Eagle County Fire Protection District provides truck bays for emergency vehicles and housing for district personnel.
Design Features
Overlooking a valley below the firehouse stands unobstructed atop a grassy hill with full solar exposure, ideal for capturing solar gain, especially in this high altitude western Colorado location which averages some 300 sunny days per year. The building’s south elevation incorporates a passive solar Trombe wall. The indirect heating system uses a generous array of glass windows separated by an air cavity several inches wide from a dark painted interior masonry wall. The wall serves as a heat sink. This project won a regional AIA Honor Award which recognized it for its contextual response and energy conserving design.
Sustainable Practices
This was the first public building in Eagle County to incorporate passive solar design.
LYNN FRITZLEN ARCHITECT 