The joint venture of Swinerton and Power Engineering Construction Co. teamed with Shah Kawasaki Architects and marine engineer Liftech Consultants Inc. to build Fireboat Station 35, an innovative essential services facility.

The design-build team’s vision was to collaboratively and successfully deliver a resilient floating fire station that would last over half a century, constructed with minimal disruptions to the occupied structure, the public, and surrounding businesses.

The dynamics of this project required an extremely committed team with a depth of experience in local building codes, design and construction of essential facilities, and experience building floats that are robust enough to support buildings and endure a seismic event.

The project was built at Treasure Island to minimize disruption along the busy Embarcadero, and the structure was floated from Treasure Island to San Francisco and moored at its permanent location behind the historic Mediterranean–style fire station along The Embarcadero at Pier 22.5, just North of the Bay Bridge.

This new maritime disaster operations center was built atop a steel floating pier anchored in place by four guide piles engineered to withstand the long-term effects of sea-level rise and be relatively impervious to earthquakes. This design allows the new station to rise and fall with the natural tide of the San Francisco Bay and projected sea-level rise. Three fire suppression boats, a dive boat, and various marine rescue craft are moored there.

The San Francisco Earthquake Safety and Emergency Response (ESER) bond funded this project, which passed in June 2014 with 79 percent voter approval.