Construction Complete on Transformative $22M Dallas County South Dallas Government Center

The recently completed Dallas County South Dallas Government Center combines the amenities of a modern, sustainable facility with a socially conscious design emphasizing justice equality. The new $22-million government center replaces and consolidates three aging facilities under one roof to house Dallas County’s Tax Office; Veteran’s Affairs; County Constable; Sheriff’s Traffic Division, Dispatch and K-9 Unit and two Justice of the Peace courts.

KAI Design served as the architect-of-record on the 73,000-square-foot, two-story building, and also integrated its in-house MEP engineering group into the project and assisted with master planning of the overall site for future growth. The general contractor on the project was a joint venture between Source Building Group Inc./Satterfield & Pontikes Construction Inc.

Features of the new center include a public walking trail around the property that will be used for agility training, food truck parking adjacent to the detention pond, a weight room for the employees and a wellness room for nursing mothers. The project also included the design and integration of a 160-foot-tall radio communications tower, a kennel for the K-9 Unit and property and evidence storage for the Sheriff’s Traffic Division.

The integration of public art played a major role in the building’s interior design. A second-floor gallery features portraits created by local artists of 11 prominent Dallas County judges and constables, plus Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall. On the first floor, a 7-foot by 20-foot mosaic mural titled “Justice For All” by artist Reginald C. Adams has been integrated into the architecture immediately adjacent to the public rotunda. Inspired by the principle of restorative justice, the mural design is anchored by a blindfolded man and woman holding the scales of justice to represent the principle of impartiality in the judicial system.

KAI leveraged its storm shelter experience to design the Dispatch Center as an ICC-500 2015 Storm Shelter that can withstand winds of up to 200 mph and remain operational during severe weather. The facility will also serve as a back-up dispatch center for the adjacent cities of Dallas and Lancaster.

The project’s build process included a collaboration with the Regional Black Contractors Association and its Second Chance workforce program, which trained men and women who have been part of the criminal justice system to work with new skillsets on the project jobsite. Additionally, the development team was comprised of minority firms (including finance partner, contractor and architect), which exceeded the minority participation goals on the project.