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Boise Fire Station #13

Setting a Historic Precedent in First-Responder Civic Architecture

Boise Fire Station #13 marks a historic milestone as the first mass timber fire station in Idaho. Designed by Pivot North Architecture and Rice Fergus Miller, this 10,500-square-foot facility serves as a modern civic model, combining operational resilience, trauma-informed design, and aggressive municipal sustainability goals. The station houses three apparatus bays, six sleeping rooms, and a satellite police reporting office, a layout tailored to foster communication and operational efficiency among Boise’s emergency response teams.

Trauma-Informed Design Meets High-Performance Engineering

Beyond its core functionality, the station integrates trauma-informed design principles, utilizing exposed mass timber elements throughout the living quarters and apparatus bays to support the long-term well-being of first responders. The central apparatus bay acts as a visual highlight of the build, featuring a 60’x80′ roof supported by two hybrid glulam/steel trusses spaced 18 feet on-center. To achieve maximum structural stability, SmartLam 5-ply Cross-Laminated Timber (CLT) roof panels span directly across the hybrid trusses and load-bearing CMU walls.

Project Highlights

  • State Historic First: Recognized as Idaho’s inaugural mass timber fire station, establishing a precedent for modern wood construction in regional civic infrastructure.
  • Precision CLT Supply: SmartLam manufactured and supplied 46 custom CLT panels (totaling 107,200 lbs) harvested from regional Montana timber, with individual panel weights ranging from 700 to 6,300 pounds.
  • Complex Hybrid Engineering: Features hybrid glulam and steel V-web trusses paired with 5-ply CLT roof and wall panels to cover large open spans while maintaining high structural performance.
  • Carbon-Neutral Alignment: Supports the City of Boise Green Building Code and its goal for carbon-neutral facilities by 2050 as the city’s first 100% electric municipal station, equipped for eight vehicle charging stations and future solar PV array integration.

Technical Execution

Brought to life through a collaborative delivery team including Core Construction (General Contractor), KPFF Consulting Engineers (Engineer of Record), and Western Wood Structures (Installer/Fabricator), the structure required specialized rigging and fabrication workflows. Plan North Engineers executed the mass timber rigging design to ensure safe crane placement and high-precision installation of the heavy CLT panels on site. By leveraging regionally sourced SmartLam CLT panels alongside engineered wood I-joists and LVL framing, the project team successfully closed in the envelope efficiently, creating a durable, low-carbon asset built to serve the Boise community for generations.

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