Jacksonville's New Front Door 

government building · 20,110 sqft

The JAX Chamber is a non-profit organization dedicated to making Jacksonville a great place to work, live, and visit. As the main hub of the Greater Jacksonville Area Chamber, this facility needed to represent the new era and professional caliber that truly represents the 6th largest Chamber of Commerce in the country. The JAX Chamber wanted more than just a face lift, they wanted Downtown’s “New Front Door” to be a catalyst for further improvement of the city. With this in mind, we made a few changes to the outside of the building, giving the square facade of the building a purposefully modern look while balancing with our landscape design partner Marquis Halback, to ensure a seamless approach to the final product. The exterior lighting now features color changing LED wall wash fixtures on the building, which will change throughout the year and for specific events.

For the interior, we designed the first floor to be very open, using as few opaque walls as possible; instead incorporating glass walls with strategic overlays showing rasterized photos of historic Jacksonville.  Thus showcasing the vibrant past of downtown Jacksonville in a modern day office environment. The unique wall system from DIRTT, allows for the reconfiguration of walls over time without the need for demolition and typical downtime associated with this sort of churn.  Throughout the project, there are a number of examples of this type of approach that were incorporated into the design to allow for growth and flexibility over time. Each floor really has its own identity based on the use of space, but the overall feel of the building is very much tied together with the use of color, material, lighting and general presence of the organization’s renewed energy that is now more available to guests of the Chamber.  Over 2,000 visitors frequent the space each month, and are now much more able to see the various departments on display, working for the business community of Jacksonville.  The project included a redesign for the new President and CEO, Daniel Davis, whose office now ties in some traditional elements, such as a printmaker's desk made of reclaimed pine, period appropriate light fixtures, and a historic wall mural of Jacksonville.  The project team is working to finalize the LEED submission and expects to receive certification in 2014!