Abtwil Fire Station

In most fire stations, the garage faces onto the road so that fire fighting appliances can be on their way quickly. This is not the case for this station that serves the two adjoining small communities of Abtwil and Gaiserwald. Here the station also serves as a youth and community centre, and it is this function that the building presents head on, with fire fighting given a secondary role - demoted to a side elevation. The youth and community functions are located at first floor level, and feature sub-divisible meeting spaces, with an overall capacity of 200. Naturally, the ground floor is given to the fire service, with spaces for equipment, drying, meetings, training and so on. A parking garage is located in the basement, along with storage facilities. The exterior of the building is constructed with white board-marked concrete.