• Beginning in 2005, GMK has been retained by the South Carolina Department of Agriculture to serve as the primary architect and engineering services firm for all structures located on a 196-acre site off Shop Road developed as a SC State Farmers Market to replace the previous market located near Williams Brice Stadium. This new market in Lexington County now serves as a retail destination (with features such as a restaurant, a retail market for deli foods and specialty produce, outdoor picnic areas, and walking paths), as well as a traditional open-air sites for produce wholesalers. The site represents the first new state farmers market constructed in the US for over 50 years. In addition to the structures previously noted, other initial projects for the market also included more parking and security features, space for organically grown produce, a packaging facility to attract small-farm produce, a centralized, refrigerated site for Harvest Hope food bank, and the relocation of the Agriculture Department’s food safety lab - a 22,0000-square-foot testing facility with 14 laboratories, 10 offices, meeting space, a data center, and workshop space.

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• Also of note on the site is the GMK-designed Phillips Conference Center. In addition to South Carolina Department of Agriculture office space, and flexible meeting space for agency and community use, this 10,000-square-foot facility includes a state-of-the art training, production, and exhibition kitchen. This commercial kitchen facility is often used for cafeteria operations training for K-12 schools across the state.

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• More recently, GMK was selected by the Department to provide architectural, engineering, and construction oversight services for a new $3.1 million South Carolina State Metrology Laboratory (and add-on storage building), miscellaneous paving upgrades, audiovisual upgrades for the Phillips Conference Center, a Peanut/Inspection Training Building (with a classroom, restrooms, equipment room, and maintenance areas), and a new central fountain.

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• GMK has been on budget and schedule with all of the Farmers Market projects. In fact, through our strong space programming capabilities, we were able to save the client 10,000 square feet of space and almost $1 million in project costs.