Fire Station Hoorn

Hoorn’s fire station is housed in an eye-catching building located along the dike from Hoorn to Enkhuizen. Its elongated shape and its colour instantly attract attention. Use of colours and materials is based on the black tar walls and ox-blood roofs of North Holland farm houses, which were translated into a black brick base and orange-red façade cladding. The base seems to carry the storeys on top effortlessly, and the projection at the entrance contributes to this apparent weightlessness. The façade cladding continues inside the hall, which accentuates the entrance. This effect is further enhanced by the glass façades of the stairwells. Safety and a clear view are essential inside a fire station. That is why a lot of effort went into creating transparency and a recognizable structure with a clear distinction between clean rooms and dirty zones. The many windows expose the internal arrangement: the rows of fireman’s uniforms are visible from the dike. Transparent ‘little rooms’ on the garage roof provide light for the spaces beneath. They make the garage look quite unusual.