Firehouse

Firehouse has been one of the UK’s leading specialists in luxury interior heating, outdoor heating, outdoor cooking, hot tubs and saunas for a total of over forty years.

Having outgrown their premises, Firehouse acquired a former car rental site adjacent to the railway station in Kendal on the outskirts of the Lake District National Park.

Ben Cunliffe Architects were approached to design a statement building to act as their flagship store for their ever growing business.

After enjoying some creative design sessions, together we embarked on a scheme that incorporated a large ground floor open plan showroom extension that wraps around the existing building with a smaller first floor showroom and designated office space.

The large glazed areas at the front of the building were designed to showcase the Firehouse stock. Cedar cladding has been used to break up the façade of the old building and wrap into the new extension while statement Corten steel signage links the old and the new building. To the rear of the building an outdoor space for hot tub presentation was created that leads onto a spectacular sauna and steam room. An overall spectacular space that has become a local landmark in Kendal.

During the course of the planning process we were approached by local conservationists who requested that 7 swift boxes were incorporated into the eaves design to facilitate the nesting areas for the declining local swift population and we were delighted to be able to assist.