Location: 
Lathrop, California
Total Square Feet: 10,048 
Construction Period: May 2005 to June 2006

CONSTRUCTION TEAM
STRUCTURAL ENGINEER: Buehler & Buehler Structural Engineers, Inc. - 600 Q Street, #200, Sacramento, CA 95814
GENERAL CONTRACTOR: BRCO Constructors. Inc. - P. O. Box 367, Loomis, CA 95650
MECHANICAL ENGINEER: Sigma Engineering - 3517 Marconi Avenue, #204, Sacramento, CA 95821
ELECTRICAL ENGINEER: Capitol City Design - 1751 Cebrian Street, West Sacramento, CA 95691
COST ESTIMATOR: Bleckmann Construction Estimating - 2421 Rio Bravo Circle, Sacramento, CA 95826

With its high arches, red brick, and white and tan stucco exterior, Lathrop's newest Fire Station has an old-time feel. 

It's also a visual contrast to all the development occurring on the west side of town. 

The first Fire Station to be built in Lathrop since the 1970's, the Lathrop-Manteca Fire Station #34 will eventually be the first thing you see as you come off Interstate 5. 

The Lathrop-Manteca Fire District covers about 100 square miles of incorporated Lathrop city area as well as unincorporated Manteca and Lathrop jurisdictions. The 10,000-square-foot Fire Station is located on a 1.3-acre lot at 460 River Islands Parkway in Lathrop's Mossdale Landing, where 500 building permits for new homes have been issued, and is growing constantly.

Having this station completed at this site is to ensure the District will continue to maintain its four-minute response time to emergency calls.

Station #34 houses two fire engines, a boat for river rescues, an exercise room, a locker room, a laundry room, a shop area, lots of storage, offices, a public entrance and a training room, all on the first floor. The second floor is the living area for the firefighters who work 24-hour shifts. Upstairs is a family room, a kitchen with three refrigerators, three bedrooms for a total crew of nine, and two bathrooms, each with water closet, lavatories, and showers. Dayroom, dining area, and kitchen jointly form one large meeting and training area. There's also a patio and a pole exit that slides the safety crew speedily down to the first floor. 

Clay brick is used as the exterior structural wall element throughout the first floor and apparatus room, providing continuity with the past stations, and establishing a common scale and aesthetic for the area, as well as providing a durable material with ease of maintenance. The second floor is wood-framed, with thin brick veneer to match the structural brick. The second floor creates a covered patio area adjacent to the public entrance, allowing for outdoor activities as well as possible office expansion.

Interiors complement the rich masonry red of the apparatus room, with its darker and soothing colors of paint, carpet, and floor tiles. Operable windows throughout provide daylighting and fresh air to the interior spaces.

The parapet roof forms are accentuated with foam mouldings, creating cornice trims and accents. The Apparatus Door openings are highlighted by arches, celebrating the Fire Station and its Engines, and signifying the civic nature of the facility.

Site planning of the 1.3 acre site reserved land for future facilities, in addition to the drive through apparatus bays and parking areas. Concrete paving was used for all driveways and apparatus aprons, to support the weights of the fire equipment. The Station is sited to allow apparatus maneuvering, while presenting a "front door" face to both directions of traffic.

MANUFACTURERS
Div. 3: Cementitious Gypsum: Commercial Topping® by Maxxon Corporation. 
Div. 7: Insulation: Knauf. 
Div. 8: Aluminum Storefront: Vistawall; Aluminum Windows: Milgard; Metal Doors & Frames: Amweld; Hardware: Schlage, LCN, Von Duprin, Pemko; Special Doors: Overhead Door.
Div. 9: Carpet: Cambridge; Rubber Base: Johnsonite; VCT: Armstrong; Athletic Rubber Flooring: Dodge Regupol; Paint: Sherwin Williams.