Are you overwhelmed at the prospect of building a new Public Safety Facility? Are you looking for help and guidance to move your project forward? Do you want a second opinion on the direction you have already received? Do you need help through the unknowns that may come up during design and construction? Attend the critically acclaimed “1-on-One” Sessions with a team of nationally recognized fire station, law enforcement and public safety design Architects from around the country. These firms have been involved in designing and constructing over 400 stations and law enforcement facilities in 45+ states and Canada. These experts will personally review and discuss your project at any stage from inception, land acquisition, feasibility, design, or construction. You will receive focused expert advice based on where you are in the process, with input and professional recommendations on how best to proceed.

Session Details:

• 1-on-One participants meet as a group at 10:00 am for a short presentation where the Architects will discuss ‘Start to Finish — How to Get the Station You Need' which focuses on emerging trends Public Safety design and construction. Following the presentation, we will have an open Q&A with the panel of Architects where attendees can ask questions. This presentation and Q&A can identify issues that you may not have considered on your project and enhance your 1-on-One session.

• 1-on-One sessions typically run for 45 minutes and will begin at 10:00 am and run until 3:00 pm. You will be scheduled for your time slot upon arrival. For added learning value, each Architect will host a short seminar or case study for participants who are waiting for their 1-on-One opportunity. These mini seminars can bring focus to issues that may have unintended consequences, provide clarity to the design process or mitigate obstacles as you move forward.

• Each registered attendee of the 1-on-One will be sent a survey via survey monkey before the conference. This will help us get an understanding of your department, your project, and where you are in your process before we meet. The more information you can provide the better.

• Please plan to arrive at the conference on Sunday in order to take advantage of this Pre-Conference opportunity. It is important to have visuals to aid in the conversation about your project. We understand that you may be at the beginning phases so not all items below will apply to you and if you are further along in your project, some of the items below may be too general. Please bring whatever you feel with help in the conversation you are trying to have.

Items to consider bringing: Tax map, Site Plan Existing Drawings, Proposed Drawings, Site photos, and Reports or Feasibility Studies.

Don’t miss out on the 1-on-One program which has been running for 12 years and has consistently been considered one of the highlights of the entire conference by participants.

Continental Breakfast in exhibit area 

Designing a Public Safety Station project can be daunting, but it doesn’t have to overwhelm you. The opening session of the Station Design Conference will introduce or update the audience to the foundational components necessary for the planning, design, and construction of your great Fire or Law Enforcement facility.

“How” to select a cohesive Design & Construction team for your Public Safety Project. The presentation includes an overview of the various contracting models, differences between Request for Qualifications and Request for Proposal, conduct an interview, and learn to ask important, tough questions.

Break for attendees & exhibitors

What is the purpose of a building program? How is it developed? Who uses the program and what information is important to convey? A proper space program is the foundation of project planning and a successful project. Learn how to develop a program that will provide the foundation for a successfully functioning station on opening day and well into the future. This presentation walks through the process of programming with examples, options, and cost information. Emphasis is placed on the impact programming has on the final station ‐ positive and negative.

What is 1-on-One and How It Can Help You.

Lunch in the exhibit area

Finding the right site for your new fire station can be difficult. Rising property costs and the scarcity of available land in the optimal location for response times have forced many of us to accept property that is not ideal in some way. Through case studies, we will explore 25 different site characteristics to consider before purchasing or accepting “free” land. Also, we will discuss which characteristics are “deal breakers” and which ones can be managed through thoughtful design.

The San Ramon Public Safety Building is a combination Police, Fire Admin, EOC, and Communications/Dispatch Facility developed as a joint partnership between the San Ramon Fire Protection District and the City of San Ramon. Learning objectives include the value of multi-organizational partnerships, creative financing alternatives, designing to please multiple agencies and the operational benefits of having Police and Fire working together out of a single building complex

The project you envision starts well before professionals are hired. There are several critical steps that you can take early on that will best prepare you for the RFP process and none of them require an architect. In this session, you’ll learn what those critical steps are, walk away with the action plan necessary for implementation, and ensure that once you embark on this journey, it ends with a completed project.

Multi-agency (Fire, Law Enforcement, City Hall, etc.) public safety facilities have increased in popularity due to their potential for cost savings. Learn the process of designing a multi-agency facility that not only houses multiple agencies but does so in a functional manner. Through sensible design, shared/non-shared spaces and controlled access, a combined public safety facility can be a comprehensive and cost-effective solution to a local government’s public safety facility problem.

First responders spend approximately one-third of their life at their Stations on duty. First responders' physical and mental health is a top priority, and your station contributes to their well-being. This session will provide an update on Decontamination and Hot Zone Design, as well as how your station can further contribute to improved mental health and safety and reduce personnel lost time.

The presentation focuses on the process to develop a prototype station plan, how each plan was site adapted and the pros and cons of using a prototypical plan and station design. The Springdale Fire Department is completing its third version of the prototype station and Chief Irwin will share his experience in guiding these projects to fruition. Topics Include: creating budgets, future growth, site selection with a prototype in mind, and lessons learned.

Experienced in law enforcement facility design, presenters will share best practices and the latest trends in a new construction or renovation project, including features to help with: staff retention and recruitment, programming for community engagement, and providing staff spaces for health, wellness, and training – to name a few. Recent case studies will be used to highlight these features.

The Capital Facilities Plans planning process is unique; ranging from a single station to plans with dozens of facilities (stations, administration buildings, support facilities, training facilities, etc.), the issues that surface during implementation and build-out have a consistent theme. A tremendous number of issues influence both short and long-term planning efforts and the ultimate build-out of facilities and cause difficult choices down the road. Lessons include how three Capital Facilities Plans (of varied sizes) unfolded. Learn the risks and approaches to mitigating risks based on recent planning efforts.

Break for attendees and exhibitors

The City of Springfield passed a ballot measure to fund two new houses and two replacements – a transformational project for the community and Department alike. The vision was four similar stations that prioritized health and safety, longevity, resiliency, and achieved the project budget. The process did not go as smoothly, but the team stayed focused on the goals and came out on top.

This presentation focuses on how to communicate the need for a new facility or remodel, strategies for educating decision-makers and the public and the value of citizen advisory groups. Information on engaging public relations firms and the benefits of virtual and in-person Community engagement workshops • Case studies (Denver Police Dept. District 6, Lenexa Justice Center, Firestone Police and Municipal Court)

Don't shy away from looking at blueprints. This duo shares the basics of how to navigate through construction documents. Emphasis is on how documents evolve through the design process and when to look for information in the drawings and specifications. Learn how to help the design team and ensure your agency needs are documented accurately in project documents. The presentation includes: the different construction documents, how are drawings organized and how to navigate through them. Also, what are the basic views/drawing types used to convey information, the legends, notes and schedules and what do you as the client need/want to review?

This presentation will emphasize the importance of tailoring the design to optimize departmental response times. Every department operates in a different manner. This presentation will review a variety of planning strategies that can serve career and volunteer departments – with a heavy focus on where and how turn-out gear can be stored to increase turnout times while simultaneously mitigating exposure risk. Presentation will share research and explain methodology in which response times can be calculated.

The decon laundry is a critical part of the fire station, but there is more to a proper decon/laundry than simply having a washer/extractor. Using 3-D interactive models, we will show a variety of facilities that treat decon as a flow-through process moving through the various steps from dirty to clean. Examples will range in scale from large central stations to small substations, and how to renovate stations that are short on space.

This presentation and discussion will focus on the design of Interview Rooms including the design elements or different types of Interview rooms. This session will also include, DOJ Requirements, Recommendations, and discuss the importance of the Interview Room Recording Management System.

High Levels of cancer, heart attack, depression, PTSD, suicide and high anxiety afflicting emergency responders can be linked directly to the brain chemistry and changes caused by the nature of emergency response. Understanding brain chemistry and how design of the living and working environment can lead to improved mental and emotional wellbeing is the core of this talk. Learn how design can shape brain chemistry to not only reduce stress, but rediscover joy in life.

Reception for attendees and exhibitors in the exhibit area

Continental Breakfast in exhibit area 

A fast-paced, no-holds-barred, sometimes counterintuitive, maybe controversial presentation challenges attendees to question their assumptions and offer a diverse set of viewpoints. If you've had conversations about a new facility, explored a piece of land, solicited an RFQ or RFP, talked to procurement, formed a building committee, or sought funding, chances are you have already made an unintentional decision that could affect you in ways never intended.

Learn the critical “dos and don’ts” during the planning, design, and construction phases of a public safety project. This presentation will include an overview of how to establish a realistic vision, build community consensus, succeed at the ballot box, manage the construction process, stay on budget and schedule 
and come out with a successful facility with your sanity intact. 

Break for attendees and exhibitors

Construction Administration begins with the selection of your General Contractor and continues until after you occupy the new facility. Many easily recognized activities and practices during the construction phase will require your attention, but several procedures novices to construction are not aware of. Even the construction experienced project owner can benefit from a refresher, along with an update on some of the now challenges surfacing. Learn what you can expect and should plan for during Construction Administration, along with procedures that you as the project owner can do to help assure that the construction results in the best possible facility.

How important design concepts such as red/yellow/green Hot Zone Design strategies to reduce contaminant exposure, Immersive Design principles to support firefighter mental health and well-being, and On-site Training to promote physical and mental readiness, in the City of Fairfax Fire Department's new 22,000 sf, 3-story facility offers an excellent case study for providing Health, Safety, and Wellness by Design.

Evidence storage facilities serve as a vital link in the chain of custody ensuring an unbroken and reliable path of custody, providing a secure environment and appropriate handling, testing and maintenance of all evidence. This session provides an overview of the standards, guidelines, and best facility design practices to receive, process and store evidence documenting available agencies and design resources. Following the overview, current and future trends in facility design will be presented and discussed including off-site storage solutions, pass-back lockers, electronic evidence storage and management, biological/DNA evidence, impact of marijuana legalization, hazardous materials, and fentanyl handling and storage. The session concludes with a review of the types of commercially available storage system solutions and the resources available for the design of your evidence storage facility.

Fitting a Public Safety project to a site location brings a host of requirements and typically a rather complex review process by the controlling jurisdiction. The project may be scrutinized by a planning commission, architectural review board, or required to seek zoning code appeal(s). Learn the fundamentals of zoning codes and their influence on your project's specific attributes. Case studies will offer examples of how to garner community support and obtain approvals from citizen-led architectural review boards and planning commissions.

Lunch in the exhibit area

Go beyond design and what the facility may look like at the Grand Opening, take a deeper dive into the cost, time, and other resources required for facility maintenance over time if crucial considerations are not made during the design phase, including availability/cost of replacement fixtures, equipment, and materials, as well as durability and practicality of the design for daily use and upkeep by firefighters. Support data and anecdotal information collected from a survey of fire department personnel across the country will also be presented.

From the type of locking mechanism on the bedroom lockers to the location of the gas-shutoff reset switch in the kitchen, this presentation will explore some of the often-overlooked details you should consider for each room in your fire station. Thoughtful planning and design of key details can save square footage, reduce costs, and maximize the overall efficiency of your station.

In a landmark campaign to enhance trust between police agencies and their communities, the IACP has developed a framework of practices and policies that can be utilized to facilitate more meaningful exchanges and collaborations between officers, their community partners, and the citizens they serve. The design of your station can significantly contribute to your department’s ability to enact these areas of focus. In this session, we will explore design opportunities through the lens of the campaign itself and understand the pivotal role that station design plays in the process.

Public safety personnel spend endless hours preparing and training for planned and emergency events such as inclement weather, public unrest, protests, terrorist acts, special and planned events. Each year, there is an increasing volume of EOC activations. This presentation will explore EOC activation triggers and the facility design considerations that support facilities readiness during EOC activations of various scales and complexities.

Even at a station with a moderate call volume, the 24- or 48- hour shift schedule means that sleep deprivation becomes an issue for most firefighters over their career. The first portions of this call-to action will cover the sobering new science on sleep deprivation in first responders, including a review of the serious long-term impacts on physical health and the more immediate impact on teamwork, aggression, and mental effectiveness. The bulk of the session will discuss the key barriers to effective sleep and discuss specific ways the fire service can improve its response to this issue through policy changes and through architecture, both in new construction and renovation projects.

This seminar describes the steps to take to determine if your existing building and site can be modified to meet your needs and whether it is better to renovate it, knock it down and rebuild, or move to a new site. Using real examples of station renovation, you will learn about evaluating the existing conditions and how to get the information you need to make valid decisions. Examples will include before/after transition images to help you learn to visualize when a building is a “diamond in the rough.”

CALEA Law Enforcement Agency Standards has hundreds of pages addressing requirements for written directives on every aspect of law enforcement policy. This program will discuss where to start and how CALEA will impact the design of a new Police Station. Included: Learn how CALEA and other national standards impact your station, how to handle temporary detention/holding and still meet requirements, CALEA and Juveniles, and a host of other information to assist in being CALEA compliant for accreditation review.

Political strife, social discourse, extremist threats, and sometimes just plain old carelessness, have us looking a lot closer at protective design elements. Deciding on what products we want is only half the battle, obtaining funding for these protective initiatives is another challenge all in itself! This presentation will show you how to classify perimeter security products for submission for FEMA Preparedness Grant. It will also recap and update the ASTM standards affecting the perimeter security industry, provide baseline information on identifying physical security problems, and give you some new strategies for designing your facilities.

Break for attendees and exhibitors

When we are buying what need to survive on our daily basis, we must come up with a plan and a vision on how we are going to pay for it. This is not different for Fire Departments. One of the biggest challenges for Fire Chiefs and Officers face, is finding the resources to meet municipal needs as well as public safety needs. Where and how do I come up for the money to pay for what I need? Do I have more funding options than just bonds?

The focus is on developing practical and functional apparatus bays and support spaces for operational efficiency and training. The first part covers how apparatus bays have evolved and what factors drive their cosst. The second part is an overview of spatial requirements, lighting, mechanical systems, vehicle exhaust systems, fire protection, structural conditions, door operations, and apparatus clearances. Also, the development of Electric Apparatus and how it will influence the design of stations for generations to come.

Focus is on key design strategies surrounding today’s modern law enforcement facility and how such features mitigate threats, reduce attack vulnerability, and enhance officer safety, while preserving an inviting and welcoming facility.

Strategies to achieve the most energy efficient public safety facilities, in simple terms. With successful examples, learn how 24/7/365 facilities can achieve not only net-zero energy but net-positive performance, and what you can do for your station to accomplish this as well. Understand the importance and value of early design-led energy modeling, massing, and solar orientation; and how that effort translates into saving dollars.

The global market is beginning to shift to electric vehicles, net-zero buildings, technology-heavy systems and many other forward-thinking ideas for a world responding to climate change and advanced IT. How will these impact your fire stations? How will current fire station designs evolve to accommodate electric apparatus, new technologies, net-zero facilities and upcoming trends? What about charging apparatus and other vehicles and managing the electric service into the building while dealing with local codes and ordinances for proper fire separation and fire suppression systems. Also, battery storage, drones and robots? Will biometrics become the new standard for health and fitness? Futuristic stations are closer than you think.

The proper training for first responders is vitally important. It enables them to respond more efficiently, effectively, and safely. Funding and appropriate sites for separate training facilities, however, can be hard to come by and easily cut from budgets. Designing facilities that allow for integration of training within the station or providing rooms on-site for future training opportunities can alleviate the burden of added funding for separate training facilities. This presentation will explore how opportunities for training can be integrated into Public Safety and Law Enforcement operations facilities.

Come TOUCH and FEEL all kinds of building materials and hear about the Pros and Cons of each. We will show you installation images and tell you want to be mindful of. With so many new materials on the market what is the maintenance protocol for various products. How will these various materials affect the feel of the environment? What will it do to the sound in the space? How do these different materials fit into your budget?

Reception for attendees and exhibitors in the exhibit area

Continental Breakfast in exhibit area 

Whether you believe in climate change or not, natural disasters including hurricanes, tornados, and ice should be considered in fire and law enforcement design projects. The speakers will present case studies on recent disasters and the impact on facilities and services.

Break for attendees and exhibitors

One of the most popular sessions in 2022. You have plenty of notes and are excited to move forward with your project. However, what roadblocks will your project face as you move forward? Real-life, role-played scenarios prepare you for the unexpected.

In the spring of 2014, FGMA was hired to assist the District with planning for several projects that would address critical facility and operational needs.

Designated as the highest priority for the District, work on Engine House No. 2 called for demolition of an outdated, outgrown and obsolete facility. Effort to program and budget for a new satellite engine house to take the old structure’s place began immediately. Thereafter, FGMA assisted the District with referendum planning services and, ultimately, the measure was successfully passed by voters in October of 2014.

The state-of-the-art 17,000 sf engine house consists of three extended length drive-through bays for a variety of apparatus as well as separate, zoned support and workspaces as well as living quarters for privacy and contaminant control. Up to seven full-time firefighters can be accommodated in the bunk hall per shift plus three holdover rooms; separate shower rooms are adjacent to each bunk room. A large and a small day room are adjacent to the full kitchen with shift pantries and a dining / meeting area. A front entry allows the public to use a community / training room, a medical check room and a toilet as well as access the Captain’s office and shift office.

The station was designed to use masonry construction, and features a pitched roof and stone for durability and to complement the neighborhood housing stock.

Construction required phased implementation to maintain the former Engine House No. 2 so that operations by the District were not interrupted.

The City of Edwardsville commissioned FGMA to perform a space needs, feasibility and master plan study in preparation for a combined police and fire headquarters.

Both the city’s police and fire departments had outgrown their facilities. Using the information the study produced, a new combined headquarters station was designed to be located just south of downtown, which allows the departments to be operational during construction.

The new 51,500 sf facility houses the full police department and the fire department’s administration and primary firehouse functions.

A major challenge with any combined building is to design for shared space to save cost while also providing the appropriate separation of the departments for security and privacy. To accomplish this, the lobby, community room and fitness room were designed as shared spaces and logically centered between the departments with access controlled doors. The final plan allows for both departments to cohabitate while maintaining privacy. The public enters into an inviting two-story space which directs people to either the police or fire departments. The facility has a large training room which also serves as an emergency operation center and community room. The room is dividable to host several different events simultaneously, saving the city money. A major consideration for the city was that the facility had to be consistent with the overall historic architectural character of the buildings in the downtown area.

To accomplish this, material surveys of those buildings were taken to make sure the materials, such as limestone and brick, were complementary.