Facade of the Ave Fénix fire station.
According to the media, this fire station is the best in Latin America. Its architecture and functionality are partly to blame for this. From the outside you can see a simple rectangular box, which during the day it reflects the city and the atmospheric changes, and at night it becomes a light box with projections of lights.
However, its interior is more complex, the intense dynamics of the firefighters' activity is shown in the innumerable openings that go through the different floors, they are circular perforations that, together with the walkways, allow the professionals to come and go in a horizontal and vertical. From the inner courtyard you can see the entire structure of the building and the spectacular central staircase of an intense red color.
The fire station has public and private spaces, including the command center for the 14 stations in the Federal District, an information and collection point, as well as a fire department library, the 'fire station'.
Internal staircase of the station, in a characteristic intense red.
Juan Carlos Fernandez He is an architect, born in Mexico, and collaborated with the study that materialized the Ave Fénix fire station. At this moment he is developing his work in Spain with office, housing and public space projects , such as the two Magasand restaurants and the Tendido 11 tapas bar in Madrid, along with other projects in Mexico and Las Vegas.
The best:
“The metallic treatment of the facade that overlooks Insurgentes Avenue and that creates the effect of the building disappearing, of blending in with the surroundings, but at the same time it allows a glimpse of the interior circulations. As it is a particularly busy and chaotic street, the building helps to order the surrounding environment. Another point in favor is the solution of the interior spaces, which respond to specific functions and are connected by means of platforms, corridors and stairs , something that can be perceived from the central patio”.
Worst:
“There is no worse, my only comment is that the use of glass as a cladding material is good as long as it is well maintained. Glass is a material that does not age well over time and, unless it is perfectly maintained, it can end up giving a very different image than was intended”.
Atrium of Ave Fénix station, with the red staircase in the background.