The Berlin Fire Station #3 is a new facility located outside of Berlin in Worcester County, Maryland. Davis, Bowen & Friedel, (DBF), provided complete design services for the first phase of this six-bay, 11,500 SF facility. Phase I represents approximately one-half of the project’s full build-out and includes three bays and a multi-purpose area.

The site falls within Worcester County’s highway corridor overlay zone off of Route 50, which required the building’s design to adhere to an aesthetic quality indigenous to the area. In this case, an agrarian style was to be emulated. Seeking a maintenance resistive composition of materials, decorative concrete masonry was selected for the building’s base course, while metal siding is being utilized to emulate a traditional board-and-batten look.

Inside, apparatus bays have been established for emergency vehicles that can access the building from both the front and rear. The volume within is essentially two-story with a mezzanine floor to eventually accommodate overnight provisions: men’s and women’s bunkrooms, men’s and women’s restrooms including showers and locker access, a day space and fitness area.