Charlotte, NC – A M King, an Integrated Design-Build firm, has won an Award of Merit in Engineering News-Record‘s (ENR) Best Projects Awards competition for the Southeast region. A M King earned Merit Award status in the Manufacturing category for its Design-Build transformation of an 88,000-sf vacant shell building into an innovative meat, seafood and cheese processing facility for Southern Foods, a Cheney Brothers, Inc. (CBI) affiliate, in Greensboro, N.C.
The new building allows 66-year old Southern Foods to operate in a larger, more modern space, handle greater volumes, and save money in repairs and maintenance; thereby, bringing even more competitive pricing to its marketplaces. The cutting edge, USDA-grade facility adds multiple components to the area’s cold chain: customized food processing for local and regional clients, cold storage, distribution, culinary center and express purchasing for the public.
“This project was particularly challenging because that there was nothing about the existing building that suggested it would support the unique requirements of a food processing company,” said A M King Vice President Dan Crist. “We were tasked with adapting a generic spec building to meet the specific needs of the Southern Foods operation. Our team responded with innovative solutions for incorporating and integrating the required highly specialized features, ultimately delivering the project ahead of schedule.”
ENR Southeast’s Best Projects competition recognizes the region’s outstanding projects completed within the last year. An independent panel of Best Projects judges reviewed 114 entries representing projects from a six-state region. A M King and its project team will be honored at ENR Southeast’s Cyber Celebration, followed by a virtual reception, on November 4, 2020.
Project Details
The complexity of this project is evident in the design and construction of the 13,500-sf food processing area, which includes a distinctive 4,200-sf meat aging room fitted with high-tech temperature and humidity controls and large viewing windows that emphasize the dynamic nature of the meat curing process. The facility also features a seafood processing area; a cheese processing room; the largest culinary center the company has developed to date; and express purchasing for the general public that stocks Certified Angus Beef, Ashe County Cheese and multiple varieties of seafood, among many other items. In addition, A M King’s scope of work on this project included 14,250 sf of dry storage, a 12,660-sf office mezzanine, 11,585 sf of freezers, as well as 11,429 sf for coolers and loading docks.
