Qiannan Mountain Fire and Emergency Rescue Training Center draws on the way local mountain villages assemble buildings into groups of connected courtyards. It brings emergency response, specialist training and communal life together in a complex that follows the terrain. Bounded by a mountain to the west and a river to the east, the site has a change in level of approximately twenty metres. Grouping the buildings around courts allows the facilities to follow the slopes while providing places for everyday social life.
Two intersecting grids organise the masterplan. The southern group follows the river and contains the fire station, command centre, training hall and trainee accommodation; the northern group houses offices and further training facilities. The grids interlock in response to the terrain. Both use rectangular volumes as their basic units, arranged in different combinations to form courtyards suited to each group's functions. Pedestrian paths connect the courts, while a road around the perimeter links the northern and southern groups. This gives the design's principle of “unit isomorphism” a concrete meaning: a shared basic form generates different functional groups and a continuous sequence of outdoor spaces.
At the road entrance, the fire station forms the gateway to the complex. Garages and equipment storage occupy the ground floor, with training and meeting spaces on the mezzanine and accommodation, reading, leisure and medical facilities above. Emergency operations, training and life on duty are brought together within one building. Two square courts and groups of rooflights bring daylight into the living floor. Shared spaces around the courts provide places for rest and conversation, connecting the daily lives of the staff with open air and changing light.
Red brick and white horizontal bands give the different groups a shared identity. The rising red volumes and horizontally spreading lines evoke mountain azaleas in bloom, making a tribute to the firefighting profession part of the architecture's expression.
Design studies
Grouping of Units
Terrain and Masterplan
The fire station and training complex occupies a slope with a maximum height difference of 20 meters. A mountain defines the northwestern edge and a river runs along the eastern side. Connections to the main roads allow the complex to serve an area of approximately 10 square kilometers and provide backup services to nearby settlements.
The site area is 96,600 square meters and the built area is 27,700 square meters. The complex was completed in August 2020. The masterplan brings emergency rescue, accommodation, offices, training facilities and a water tank into a connected landscape.
Intersecting Grids and Courtyard Groups
Two intersecting grids respond to the surrounding mountains and the urban road system. Grid A organizes the emergency and fire rescue center; Grid B organizes the training center. Their overlap coordinates the masterplan while allowing each group to follow the terrain.
The southern group contains the fire station, command center, training hall and accommodation for up to 160 trainees. The northern group contains offices and further training facilities. A perimeter road connects the two groups, while pedestrian paths link individual buildings in a pattern informed by mountain villages. Group A follows the urban road, river and western ridge and receives eastern sunlight; Group B responds to the northern ridge and receives southern sunlight.
Rectangular and L-shaped volumes form different combinations at successive levels. Their spacing creates an open, continuous sequence of courtyards rather than an uninterrupted built edge.
Skylights and Construction
The arrangement gives offices, dormitories and classrooms access to daylight from the east, south and west. Skylights mark shared spaces within an otherwise restrained interior, creating distinct atmospheres and making natural light part of daily collective life.
The fire station and swimming pool use different skylight arrangements. Construction photographs show how the concrete roof openings shape these spaces before the interior finishes are applied.
Material and Outdoor Space
Simple rectangular volumes repeat in different combinations across the sloping site. This shared order accommodates different functions while forming usable outdoor spaces between buildings.
Red brick is set against repeated horizontal white bands. The material contrast connects individual buildings, while paving, planting and sheltered edges give each courtyard its own scale and atmosphere.
The Fire Station
The fire station stands beside the road entrance and acts as a gateway to the complex. Its building area is 3,852.8 square meters. The main accommodation is arranged over two floors with a mezzanine.
The first floor contains the fire-fighting garage and equipment warehouse. The mezzanine accommodates a training gallery and meeting rooms. The second floor provides up to 30 beds, common rooms, leisure areas, a library and study rooms, together with a clinic and medical and psychological counselling spaces. Two square courtyards and a series of skylights bring light and open space into the living floor.
Interior Atmosphere
White walls and white tiled floors form a continuous interior background, punctuated by black aluminum frames and ceiling louvers. Against this restrained palette, the large skylights and interior courtyards become the principal spatial elements.
Changes in level, daylight and openings connect shared living and learning spaces while giving places for rest, reading and circulation distinct qualities.