Charlotte, N.C. – A M King, a leading integrated Design-Build firm, was recognized with a 2024 Design-Build Project Team Award during the Design-Build Institute of America (DBIA) Southeast Region’s Annual Regional Summit & 24th Annual Awards Banquet. A M King was singled out for its exemplary project delivery of ALDI’s Regional Headquarters and Distribution mega-facility in Loxley, AL — winning Bronze in the Industrial and/or Research Facilities category. A M King project team members were on hand to accept the award at the April 23rd event, held at South Carolina’s Kiawah Island Resort.
A M King provided property consulting for repeat client ALDI US, one of America’s fastest-growing retailers, and designed and built their regional flagship facility, which serves as a blueprint for future ALDI locations as the company expands in the Southeast and across the country. The nearly 600,000-sf Gulf Coast operation services more than 100 stores in southern Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana and the Florida panhandle — marking the company’s presence in 38 states.
Previously, A M King was honored for this same project by Associated Builders and Contractors of the Carolinas (ABC Carolinas) in that organization’s 2023 Excellence in Construction (EIC) Awards competition. A M King took home a “Best in Class” Eagle Award — ABC’s highest-level award in the Industrial/Over $50 million category; won the exclusive 2023 Carolinas Design-Build Award; and was a Finalist for ABC’s 2023 Project of the Year. Earlier last year, A M King won an Award of Merit for the ALDI-Loxley project in Engineering News-Record’s (ENR) Best Projects Awards competition for the Southeast region.
“Working together with the entire project team, our experienced design and construction professionals overcame the various project challenges one-by-one, successfully delivering this complex project in keeping with our longtime client’s critical deadline for shipping product,” said A M King President Dan Crist. “Because our company focuses 100 percent on Design-Build delivery, it’s especially rewarding to be recognized by DBIA.”
About DBIA Southeast Design-Build Awards
DBIA Southeast recognizes exemplary applications of Design-Build Done RightTM that, at a minimum, resulted in highly successful Design-Build projects achieving best-value while meeting design and construction quality, cost and schedule goals. To be considered for a Design-Build award, projects must demonstrate successful application of Design-Build principles including, but not limited to, interdisciplinary collaboration in the early stages of the project and the acceptance of single-entity risk. Winning projects are honored for the advanced and innovative application of total integrated project delivery and finding unique solutions for project challenges.
Project Details | ALDI Loxley Regional Headquarters and Distribution Facility
A M King worked in tandem with ALDI to determine adequate site infrastructure requirements. The property needed to be large enough, buildable and strategically located. Ultimately, A M King assisted ALDI in acquiring a 150-acre site just north of Interstate 10, conveniently located between Mobile, AL. and Pensacola, FL. and 25 miles from Gulf Shores, AL.
The conception of this facility is a continuation of the retailer’s efforts to maximize the efficiency of their operations through facility design. Several new elements have been incorporated into the Loxley facility for efficiency, including:
- Use of insulated metal panels (IMP) in lieu of concrete tilt or precast concrete exterior panels. The warehouse is fully designed with 6” thick IMP, creating a thermally tight and efficient building envelope.
- Optimum racking organization, determined by product analysis from storage and flow perspectives.
- First ALDI distribution center to utilize cross-docking services.
- Floor-to-ceiling curtain wall around two sides of the two-story office permits large amounts of natural light to filter into the space. Large, unobstructed areas of glazing at the office allow all employees to have outdoor views.
- Restrooms, locker rooms and maintenance for both ambient temperature and cooler and freezer employees are housed in the central core of the building.
Notable sustainability initiatives in the building include:
- A full solar panel array over the dry warehouse, which sends surplus energy back into the grid.
- Drive-in style dock doors in the perishable docks provide a much better seal for a thermally tight building.
- Clerestory windows surround the dry portion of the warehouse, allowing natural light to offset the lighting needs within the area
- Full LED lighting throughout the entire building and site improves energy efficiency.
The scope of work on the Loxley facility included 216,781 sf of Dry (Ambient Temperature) Storage; 22,022 sf of 55-degree Storage; 65,674 sf of 34-degree Cooler Storage; 12,914 sf of 30-degree Meat Storage; 27,975 sf of 0-degree Freezer; 4,957 sf of -10-degree Ice Cream Freezer; 45,779 sf of Perishable Inbound/Outbound Dock with 38 dock positions; 82,304 sf Dry Inbound/Outbound Dock with 49 dock positions; and 24,679 sf of Class A office spaces.
