Lots of people were excited about this new 2 story state-of-the-art 303,000 sf. high school in Jacksonville, Florida. The entire community awaited its completion with excitement. After all, it was the first new high school in Duval County in approximately 20 years!

The design team, Schenkel Shultz (Architecture) and Ramski and Company (Interior Design) were excited to create this sophisticated “Low Country” campus with a small scale learning community structure. The architectural style was influenced by the architecture of A Hayes Town and is especially appropriate for this region. The concept resulted in a beautiful, special sense of place; truly an institution of learning with an inspired campus.

As it turns out, our team’s flooring subcontractors are especially excited because Dixie Flooring has been awarded a Starnet Award for the campus.

Each year the Starnet Design Awards recognizes the creativity and talent of its members by recognizing outstanding commercial interiors featuring innovative flooring products and technologies. The Starnet Design Awards are an annual competition which recognize jointly the members of Starnet, the world’s largest cooperative of commercial flooring contractors, and their local design partners from the United States and Canada.

Creative people bring their unique vision to every project. Starnet members are proud to work with the world’s finest architects and design firms. To properly acknowledge those who are setting new standards of creativity in commercial interior design through innovative floor covering solutions, Starnet is proud to sponsor the Annual Design Awards.

The Design Awards evaluate creative use of floor coverings, flooring design concepts and how well designs meet client objectives and special challenges. Esteemed judges for the 2011 awards included: Dennis Todd Heiser, Senior Associate and Design Director, Gensler—Chicago, IL and David Owen Rozzi, Senior Designer, M. Moser Associates, New York.

Entries are judged based on the creative use of flooring, as well as the design concept and overall quality of the solution delivered to the client. Each entry is judged by the following criteria:

  • Creative use of flooring
  • Flooring design and integration into the overall space
  • How well design meets client objectives, special challenges,
  • and environmental achievement

“Dixie Contract is honored with this recognition,” comments Leo Jacobson of the Jacksonville award recipient, www.dixiecc.com.

“Atlantic Coast High School” (the winning entry in the Education category) “is a project which illustrates a sophisticated use of VCT and carpet tile in a high school building.  Throughout the design, there is a wise use of color with the VCT featuring four colors which are repeated to create strong designs while the carpeting is more neutral.  It creates a design flow which complements the larger spaces.”

To quote the judges, “the installation really reinforces the design and the changing scale between projects allows for a fun and colorful setting without being childish.  This design really respects the end user.”

Jeanne Matson, President and CEO of Starnet, states, “Once again in 2011, we received a large number of outstanding entries into the Starnet Design Awards competition.  The quality of the work was outstanding and, once again, we believe that the work represents the very best in commercial flooring design and installation for the Starnet membership, the Design Awards illustrates the partnership that exists between the Starnet Preferred Vendors, the local architects and designers and the Starnet project teams. Without all three components working together, the end product could not be realized.