As part of the ongoing collaboration between Emergency Services in the north east Napper Architects designed the new Barnard Castle ‘Quad’ station to incorporate the Police, Fire, Ambulance, and Mountain Rescue Services into one facility. This innovative project is the first station in the country to combine these four Emergency Services. Funded through the Government’s Fire Transformation Fund the aim of the project is to improve the services to the local community whilst making substantial savings in running costs by combining them on to one site.
The building has been designed in such a way as to promote collaboration between the Services in a series of shared multi-functional spaces. Set on the site of the old fire station the very tight restraints required careful design and planning in order to maximise its use. To the east of the site is a listed wall, a line of ancient trees, and the grade I listed Bowes Museum. Given this contextual setting the design of the building and its massing required careful articulation. The main accommodation block is a strong linear form making reference to the line of trees and the listed wall. The mass of the building steps down from the east of the site to a series of smaller volumes in keeping with the residential setting. The site accommodates a range of spaces including appliance & ambulance bays, office accommodation, training areas, briefing spaces, interview rooms, dining area, gym, and various ancillary areas to deal with the specialist activities such as the sluice room and charging of the breathing apparatus.
