Moreno Valley Fire Department is an all volunteer department serving the Village of Angel Fire and the surrounding area. They operate out of two facilities, one being Val Verde Fire Station located at the base of Palo Flechado Pass on Highway 64. The department has grown significantly in strength and equipment over the years and needed more space than their existing metal building could provide.

The challenge was to evaluate the existing site and building, and determine the level of expansion possible utilizing a small budget. The building needed to function as more than a storage shed, and a Colfax County Sheriff’s substation also needed to operate from the same site. The design solution includes a new 3 bay apparatus bay that, coupled with a large CMU site wall, shrouds the existing metal building and creates a public safety campus for the facility’s staff. The newly renovated existing building includes new offices and kitchen, a shower and laundry room, a sheriff’s holding /interview room and two large open rooms that are designed to be flexible enough to work as a day room, dining room and training room.

Neighbors in the area requested that the visual presence of the fire station be improved to fit in more with the scenic landscape. The final solution does its best to minimize the existing metal building – which also received a new paint job – while also working to protect the facility from the harsh winter winds this area receives. A tall CMU wall encapsulates the new Apparatus Bay for wind protection and sliding barn doors at the main entry reference the ranching heritage of the surrounding communities. The materials used are utilitarian, but detailed in such a way to give the facility a permanent feel in the landscape.