Monitac were approached to fabricate and deploy a fire station to service the world’s largest petrochemical construction project. The brief was to provide living quarters for thirty two people, support facilities such as kitchen, laundry and offices, a command & control centre and a covered area to park the emergency response vehicles. The whole campus had to be portable so that it could be repositioned within the construction site (it’s a really big site!), and reused elsewhere in the world at the end of the project. The client chose Monitac because they wanted something which cost-effectively blended functionality, innovation and comfort.

A key requirement was to provide a campus that people would be thrilled to live in: The staff are involved in dangerous work in a harsh environment and it is important that they are well rested and motivated. A further requirement was for the camp to be as green as possible. We exceeded expectations on both these fronts through a combination of exquisite design, integration of a tailor made campus-wide automation/entertainment system and use of environmental technologies including photovoltaic panels, solar water heaters and low-e glazing.

We worked closely with the client to come up with several exciting masterplan concepts which we then refined into the final design. We split the fire station campus into three areas: The station area, the communal/recreation area and the residential area.

For the station area, we expanded on our Modular Works Facility to create a space perfectly suited to the client’s needs. This part of the facility houses the command & control centre in an elevated location offering full view of the vehicle bay and panoramic views across the petrochemical plant. An on-call sleeper room with bunk beds for the crew of 6 is adjacent to the command centre allowing rapid communication and access to the vehicle bay. At the back we put an industrial workshop for on-site maintenance of vehicles and equipment. On top of this we provided a forty person training room which doubles as an area where the crew can relax. The offices, store rooms, washblock and laundry room make up the rest of the station creating a partially enclosed and covered area that provides an inspiring yet functional place to work.

The communal area is located in the heart of the campus providing a divide between the work and residential areas. It incorporates a NBA size basketball court, a gym and recreation room, and kitchen/dining facilities for forty people. The residential zone was designed to be expandable whilst retaining the masterplan philosophies. It is compact and comfortable, arranged in blocks of four modules each containing two ensuite bedrooms.