The City of Marco Island retained GHC to design a replacement for the existing Station 51 which was damaged by a lightning strike in 2016. The small (at 13,700 SF) site is located within 1,000 feet of the Gulf of Mexico and below the required flood elevation. FEMA requirements for essential services require elevated floors. This, combined with ADA, staff and vehicular circulation requirements, presented a unique set of design requirements.

Program requirements for a station staffing seven firefighters and site restraints dictated a two-story solution to minimize the building footprint. Conditioned and occupied space require a floor elevation of a minimum 2 feet above base flood elevation while aligning drives and pedestrian circulation with the existing street elevations nearly 4 feet below base flood. This 6 foot differential was solved in an aesthetically pleasing solution utilizing the vertical circulation elements of stairs and elevator to reduce the mass of the two story building.