Ajax Building Corporation Awarded Santa Rosa County Courthouse Project

By Aziza Jackson

MILTON, Fla. — The Santa Rosa County Commission recently selected a design-build entity for their new judicial center complex. Ajax Building Corporation was recently chosen as the design-build company for the Santa Rosa County Courthouse project, and will be partnering with Sam Marshall Architects, and HOK for the project.

The three competitors included Ajax Building Corporation, Morette Company and Whitesell-Green Caddell. After interviews and deliberations, the board ranked the proposals and awarded the project to the team of Ajax Building Corporation, Sam Marshall Architects and HOK.

“It was an extremely competitive process with three highly qualified firms, but I am excited to announce the board chose Ajax Building Corporation to partner with on the construction of our new courthouse,” said Board Chairman Sam Parker. “They did a fantastic job for Okaloosa County on their new courthouse in Crestview and we look forward to working with them.”

The complex will be approximately 100,000 square feet and constructed on a 19-acre parcel on Avalon Boulevard in Milton. The project, per Florida Statute 255.252, will be designed and constructed utilizing either the USGBC LEED or GBI Green Globes rating system.

Design-build is a project delivery system in which a single entity is contracted for both design and construction services. The method ensures a single point of contact and generally reduces design time. Construction on the new judicial center complex will begin this year.

To date, Ajax has been involved with 18 LEED Certified/Registered Projects, including 10 LEED Gold Certified. Included is the University of Florida’s state-of-the-art College of Business Graduate Studies building, Hough Hall. This project also won Ajax a Bronze Vision Award for going paperless on the $17.6 million project, streamlining the process and saving thousands of dollars in energy-related costs, as well as 1,000 pounds of paper during construction. Ajax also has completed sustainable projects in Georgia for the Georgia Peach Green Building Rating System, as well as projects earning Green Globe Certification.