PROJECT DESCRIPTION

The overall design concept for the new 36,000 SF Georgia Department of Labor Career Center was to design a structure to blend the program requirements of the Department of Labor with the development and urban planning desires of the City of Valdosta.

Before the erection of warehouses in the area, the original site was the home of the train depot for the City of Valdosta. The exterior architectural design of the building needed not only to reflect the scale and characteristics of the old building but also needed to integrate the use of materials and scale found in the historic downtown area. We accomplished this by constructing the building of brick, synthetic stucco, and details that form the language of the architecture for the existing downtown area.

The massing and general proportions of the building reflect the history and tradition of the old train station. The building was designed with a large front porch to bring the scale down at the street level to create a pedestrian friendly venue. However, the general multi-story massing reflects a similar scale to the buildings adjacent to the site. This is achieved by the use of parapet walls and positioning the two-story volumes on the front of the building. The underlying urban design consideration was to create a building to extend the historic downtown fabric to the southern edge of the district. This act in-turn brings not only jobs but also users to this area of downtown Valdosta, spawning revitalization in this area for the city.