Vancouver Fire Rescue to build new headquarters office with a fire hall

Vancouver Fire Rescue to build new headquarters office building with a fire hall

Artistic rendering of the new Fire Hall 9 and VFRS headquarters at 1805 Victoria Drive, Vancouver. (HCMA/City of Vancouver)

The Grandview-Woodland neighbourhood will be the home of one of Vancouver’s largest and most advanced fire halls, co-located with the new headquarters office of Vancouver Fire Rescue Services (VFRS).

The municipal government has submitted a rezoning application to redevelop the existing Fire Hall No. 9 at 1805 Victoria Drive — the southwest corner of the intersection of Victoria Drive and East 2nd Avenue — into a new four-storey building dedicated to VFRS needs.

The existing 1959-built facility at the site is deemed to be in “poor/critical condition,” including being “high-risk” for its seismic vulnerability.

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Currently, the southern half of the lot is vacant — a paved area for training and vehicle parking needs. The new building will occupy the entire footprint of the lot.

The new replacement fire hall over the building’s first two levels will have a total floor area of over 18,000 sq ft, including five large fire truck bays (up from the existing capacity of only two bays), firefighter dormitories, and other supporting spaces.

fire hall 9 vancouver fire rescue headquarters vfrs 1805 Victoria Drive

Site of Fire Hall 9 at 1805 Victoria Drive, Vancouver. (Google Maps)

Existing condition:

The existing Fire Hall 9 at 1805 Victoria Drive, Vancouver. (Google Maps)

Future condition:

Artistic rendering of the new Fire Hall 9 and VFRS headquarters at 1805 Victoria Drive, Vancouver. (HCMA/City of Vancouver)

The upper two levels will contain about 18,000 sq ft of office space for VFRS’ senior administration, fire investigations, and the department’s operation centre. On the ground level, next to the office entrance and near the building’s corner with the intersection, an antique fire truck will be displayed behind a large window.

The corner will also feature a small landscaped plaza, while the southern edge of the property will feature a community garden — situated above the parkade entrance — to serve as a herb garden for the fire hall’s kitchen and a buffer area for the adjacent single-family houses. A significant portion of the building will be Passive House certified, made possible by design components such as a green roof.

“At the urban scale, there is an opportunity in this project to extend the neighbourhood’s already-strong relationship with nature, to make this a fire hall not just in a green community but of a green community,” reads the design rationale by local architectural firm HCMA.

Existing condition:

The existing Fire Hall 9 at 1805 Victoria Drive, Vancouver. (Google Maps)

Future condition:

Artistic rendering of the new Fire Hall 9 and VFRS headquarters at 1805 Victoria Drive, Vancouver. (HCMA/City of Vancouver)

It is noted that the new building will be roughly the same height as the hose tower of the existing fire hall building on the site. According to HCMA, the new building will not impact the protected mountain View Cone 27 emanating from the beach at the south end of Trout Lake, as tall mature trees with their crowns in the area already intrude into the protected mountain view corridor.

During construction, Fire Hall No. 9’s services will continue at a temporary off-site facility.

The municipal government is also planning to build a new replacement, expanded, and relocated facility for Fire Hall No. 8 within the base of a 28-storey social housing tower next to the north end of the Cambie Street Bridge in downtown Vancouver.

As well, it is in the early stages of considering the possibility of providing a new relocated facility for Fire Hall No. 6 within the new West End Community Centre.

Earlier this year, VFRS officially opened the new Fire Hall No. 17 at 7070 Knight Street in the Victoria-Fraserview neighbourhood, which is billed as a state-of-the-art facility that will also help train firefighters — the second largest training hub for firefighters in Vancouver. The building was also designed by HCMA to a Passive House green certification standard.

990 Beatty Street Vancouver social housing fire hall

Artistic rendering of 990 Beatty Street, Vancouver. (Francl Architecture/City of Vancouver)

7070 knight street vancouver fire hall 17

The newly built Fire Hall 17 at 7070 Knight Street, Vancouver. (City of Vancouver)

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