Tag Archives: Florida Architect

Architects Design Group Exhibiting at Florida Police Chiefs Association Conference

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For the 16th year in a row, Architects Design Group will be exhibiting at the Annual Florida Police Chiefs Association (FPCA) Summer Conference which will be held in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida. This is the 60th anniversary of the FPCA Summer Conference and the association anticipates more than 250 agency heads will attend this training conference and exposition.

Architects Design Group specializes in the design of Police stations and is committed to enhancing the Law Enforcement community’s ability to provide first class facilities to its citizens. We continually lecture, exhibit and sponsor events at conferences such as FPCA to ensure we remain on the cutting edge of emerging trends, technology and standards.

Come visit us at Booth #36 July 8th through the 10th at the Marriott Resort and Spa to learn more about the services we offer including spatial needs assessments, master planning, site selection, design, construction administration, and grant assistance.

Preparing for the 10,000 Year Storm

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As all of us are acutely aware, June 1st was the start of Hurricane Season.  Forecasters are declaring it will be an above average summer with 12 to 18 named storms, six to 10 hurricanes and three to six major hurricanes, Category 3 and above, although precise predictions have been made more difficult by the “neutral conditions” of El Niño and La Niña.  All it takes, though, is one storm to make landfall, and the impact can be widespread.

With the devastating tornados that have raked the mid-West and southeast, we know all too well that prior planning and preparations are essential to survivability.  One question you should be asking yourself now… “Is my facility survivable?”  Unfortunately, the Tuscaloosa Emergency Operations Center was not.  The Emergency Management staff was in the direct line of the tornado and found themselves digging out of their crumbled facility.

Attached you will find an article that was recently published in “Florida Caribbean Architect” about an Emergency Operations Center in Marathon, Florida, the county seat of Monroe County in the Keys.  This facility has been designed and engineered to withstand the “10,000 Year Storm,” one with storm surge waves of 18-20 feet and sustained winds of 205 mph and gusts of 225 mph.  Designing a facility to withstand nature’s greatest fury is not only desirable, but also feasible.

Please take a moment to review this article and ask yourself if you are truly prepared.  If the answer is “no,” contact Architects Design Group to see how we can help.
To view the full article published by Florida Architect, please click here or go to: http://www.adgusa.org/10,000%20yr%20storm%20Full%20Article.pdf

Architects Design Group Completes Design for North Port Fleet Maintenance Facility

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Winter Park, FL (April 27, 2011) – Architects Design Group (ADG) completed the design-build criteria documents for the new 37,500 square foot City of North Port Fleet Maintenance facility located on the corner of Price and Chamberlain Boulevards.

City officials, public works staff, and community representatives gathered to celebrate ground breaking for the new facility on Monday, April 25; and the project is now under construction.

The project has been something the City has been planning for a number of years. Since the early 1980’s, the fleet inventory has increased from 150 vehicles to more than 500 today.

The new facility will provide the City a state-of-the-art Vehicle Service Facility including, 15,000 square feet of office space for the Fleet Division and Public Works Administration, 12 work bays, a vehicle fuel/wash station; and the development of ± 17 acres, with various retention ponds, support infrastructure, utilities, and pavement that provides for future site build-out of the Public Works Department.

The facility is programmed to provide for the current space needs of the Fleet Maintenance Department, with provisions for future expansion to meet the 2025 needs. In the interim, the future expansion space will be utilized by Public Works Administration, to re-locate personnel and equipment from trailers on site into the new storm-hardened facility, where the Department can remain in operation during and after an emergency event.

Consistent with the City’s goals for sustainable design and operational efficiency, ADG’s design criteria includes automated building systems controls for lighting and HVAC, water conserving and low-flow metered fixtures, and solar hot water heating. Proposed energy efficient construction is to include thermally efficient glazing assemblies and envelope design, and solar shading. In addition, stormwater management systems utilize bioswales, and native species are used in all landscape buffers.

The facility is scheduled to be completed in early 2012.

Established in 1971, Architects Design Group, Inc. is a full-service architectural and planning firm based in Winter Park, Florida with a branch office in Fort Myers, Florida that specializes in the innovative design of public sector architecture, including public works, municipal, transportation, public safety, emergency operations centers, and cultural facilities throughout the United States. The firm has received many awards including the AIA Florida Firm of the Year Award in 2002 and the AIA Orlando Firm of the Year Award in 2009. As well as being ranked as the 2nd Largest Central Florida Architecture Firm by the Orlando Business Journal in 2010. To learn more about Architects Design Group, visit www.adgusa.org.