Residents get ‘a very safe place to live’ above Victoria’s new fire hall الحريق

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The concrete structure of a new 12-storey building that will include 130 residential units and commercial space rises above a fire station and emergency operations center in downtown Victoria.

The uniquely advanced building is engineered and built to a significantly higher seismic design load so that it can continue to function in emergencies such as an earthquake.

David Jawl, director of development at Dalmatian Developments which is building the structure at 1025 Johnson St. As part of a broader plan for the region.

“The concrete structure of the fire bays and management areas has been completed, and slabs are being poured for the first residential floors. During the fall you will see the building rising floor by floor.”

Work on the $33.7 million project began in January and the developer hopes the building will be completed in the spring of 2023.

The 41,700-square-foot building replaces the current 26,700-square-foot Fire Headquarters building on Yates Street, just a few blocks away, which has served the citizens of Victoria since 1959.

“This new building allows them to continue operations at their original location without interruption,” says Jules. “The new fire hall is a prefab building, which makes the transition very seamless.”

The building will meet new BC Building Code standards for buildings designed to remain operable after a disaster. This means that it will be built to a much higher seismic design load than typical commercial buildings and, after an earthquake, must still be safe for people.

“Building after a disaster means that the building is structurally designed to continue operating in an emergency, such as an earthquake,” says Jules. “The practical result is a much larger amount of concrete and thicker steel than you might normally see. There are also provisions such as emergency standby generators to continue essential construction functions in the event of a power outage.”

On the ground floor, there will be six fire hall bays and a mezzanine floor that will house the Victoria Fire Department headquarters and the city’s first emergency response center, along with an ambulance center with two bays.

DALMATIAN DEVELOPMENTS – The 41,700-square-foot firefighting building in Victoria, which will also contain a residential component above, replaces the existing 26,700-square-foot fire headquarters building on Yates Street, just a few blocks away. Work on the $33.7 million project began in January and the developer hopes the building will be completed in the spring of 2023.

British Columbia’s Emergency Health Services has agreed to lease 3,200 square feet of space to “rest and prepare” for paramedics under a 20-year agreement.

A single floor of 16,500 square feet of commercial office space will separate the firehouse from the residential building. Eight floors of affordable housing units for low- and middle-income seniors, families and the disabled are being built over office space and will be managed by Pacifica Housing.

There will also be two levels of underground parking.

While living above a fire hall is expected to be noisy, Jawl says measures are being taken to mitigate problems, and the benefits outweigh any concerns.

“Locating a residential above a fire hall holds a lot of benefits and there is an increase in this type of building design in cities around the world. It gives residents extra security because they always have eyes on the street and when you add post-earthquake construction it makes for a very safe place to live.”

“There are a lot of ways to alleviate concerns about noise that are part of the design, but also the operations.”

The developer will implement a “good neighborly” agreement between nearby residents and the fire department, which means that steps will be taken to reduce noise, such as following a traffic management plan to reduce the use of sirens when fire trucks leave the building in contact.

Double pane windows will be installed throughout the residential areas of the building and the mechanical facility for the fire department, refueling station and operational training will be in the other halls.

Gul noted that having ambulances in rest and ready mode on site will reduce simultaneous responses to emergency vehicles in the downtown area.

The structure is the largest purpose-built and affordable rental building ever built in the city.

The building’s amenities for residents will include an indoor residents’ pool, recreation space, children’s play area, dog track, and outdoor seating with a landscaped view.

Two high-speed elevators will serve residents from the underground car park and the residents’ lobby will contain a fire fighting showroom where fire engines are displayed.

Underground, there will be 116 parking spaces. There will also be electric charging for cars and scooters.

The structure is part of a larger master planned community downtown that is being built in four phases.

The remaining three phases will be 14, 15 and 17-storey buildings that will house public spaces, a mix of business, retail and restaurants, as well as a variety of residences.

Jawl says he is very proud that the construction and design team was able to keep the project on schedule in light of COVID-19.

“This is the main public project for the city at the moment and it has really made our team proud during a difficult early construction period. They did not miss a day of construction, even though we started work just weeks before the global pandemic.

“The hardworking crew members on the site, who cannot work from home, have adapted to these challenges and continue to move the project forward safely and efficiently.”

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