Brigade

When Firestation No.1 went to the auction block, we were ready. The historic landmark by architect Ludwig O. Solberg was erected in 1929. The five story hose and training tower still stands watch over Wenatchee. A century now. Downtown anchored itself to that imposing facade. The fire department needed modern facilities, and moved north. Two cavernous engine bays, and the question of what to do with them.

The structure is part of the city’s bones. A building like that doesn’t retire. It keeps working. Or we lose something that can never be rebuilt. Yes, we were ready. This was the opportunity that finally hooked us home, back to the orchards, where it all began. A once in a lifetime shot to act, and one chance to get it right.

This project is as much about the building as anything we put inside it. We didn’t set out to be preservationists. We are now. The work is: make her good for another hundred years, and where we can, put the later changes back the way Solberg drew them.

Brigade’s story is about this place. It’s about fire—no escaping that. And it’s about farmers and their orchards, the lifeblood of Central Washington.

The restaurant is built around a massive, open hearth, where our chefs will play in the coals, and arrange firebricks and grates to find the right configuration for the culinary task at hand.

The exclusive fuel is local orchard wood. And every dish will be fire-licked by those flames in one way or another. Every plate, solar energy bound tightly in the core of an old fruit tree, its memories of seasons and harvests released as heat.

The main dining room is preserved as an engine bay. Concrete floors and endless headroom. The original brass fire pole, center stage, dances to the flickering light of hot embers.

Solberg drew the second level of Firestation No.1 as a place to live, work and eat. We think he had that right. We reimagine it as four boutique guest suites that run through the old library, kitchen, dining room and dormitory. The station’s long-retired basketball court is restored to its full expanse to serve as the test kitchen. This is the workshop. The studio. Here the building drives the concept. That wood floor is where the chefs write the script: try things, break them, cook them again. It is here that Brigade will offer a special tasting menu experience—a restaurant within the restaurant—where the chefs can host you on their turf, on their terms.

Art direction draws on Art Deco and Beaux Arts to honor the style of the era. We developed a custom font based on the hand writing of Solberg’s blueprints. It is unique, careful and serious. A part of his identity. His signature. Look for it on our printed things. In 2027.