FIERO Merit Award for Tampa Airport Aircraft and Firefighting Facility to be Presented to Tampa International Airport and City of Tampa

Tampa – PBS&J’s architecture division recently received a 2008 merit award for the new construction design of Tampa International Airport’s (TPA) Aircraft Rescue and Firefighting Facility (ARFF). The award was presented by the Fire Industry Equipment Research Organization (FIERO), and selection for the award was based on various aspects of planning and design including site plan, floor plan(s), and architectural image. The award certificate and the winning presentation drawing will be presented to the Airport’s executive director Louis Miller and board members and the Airport’s Fire Chief, Dennis Phillips, during TPA’s board meeting on February 12, 2009. 

The Tampa ARFF is a 27,000-square-foot, state-of-the-art firefighting facility that houses 10 firefighting vehicles and provides necessary amenities for 12 to 15 full-time firefighters including offices, training/conference rooms, a kitchen and dining area, individual sleeping rooms, and locker rooms. Fitness needs were met with a gym. HOK provided the initial concept design. PBS&J performed multidisciplinary services including architectural production, interior design, airfield planning, civil/site engineering, landscape architecture, surveying, and construction phase services as the prime consultant to TPA. The project’s construction began in September 2003 and was completed in month and year, just over three years. 

FIERO, formed in 1990, is a nonprofit organization consisting of southeastern fire service individuals who meet to discuss fire-related equipment and safety issues. The group’s objective is to provide a safe, more efficient, effective, and progressive fire service through the application of shared knowledge, testing, research, development, and data analysis for fire apparatus, equipment, protective clothing, related subjects, and firefighter safety. Annually, FIERO chooses a recipient of the Fire Station Design Award; a merit award is presented to projects in which four of five judges agree exemplifies an outstanding example in all aspects of planning and design including site plan, floor plan(s), and architectural image. The group’s members consist of any fire professional and/or vendor working within the fire service industry, and its current president is Dart Kendall. 

PBS&J (www.pbsj.com) is an employee-owned firm that provides infrastructure planning, engineering, construction management, architecture, and program management services to public and private clients. The firm is ranked by Engineering News-Record as 29th among the nation’s top consulting firms. PBS&J has 3,800 employees and 80 offices nationwide. 

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