Balfour Beatty, in joint venture with Samet Corporation, celebrates the topping out of Forsyth County’s new Courthouse in Winston Salem, North Carolina.

To commemorate the milestone, a traditional “topping out” ceremony was held at the construction site where project team members and partners signed their names on the uppermost steel beam which was then placed on the roof level of the new courthouse. Project team members poured 3,100 yards of concrete and set 1,600 tons of steel to complete the structure which will accommodate for building modernization and a 50 percent expansion of the existing justice center.

The joint venture team broke ground approximately one year ago on the 250,679-square-foot facility that will feature 18 judicial spaces and provide improved security, accessibility and technologies to better serve Forsyth County citizens and judicial personnel once complete.

It’s amazing to see what our entire project team inclusive of our joint venture, Forsyth County, designers and particularly our trade partners have been able to accomplish to date.

KEN GRUBE
Executive VP / Risk Management

With the structure complete, work has now shifted towards structural drying by installing exterior walls, windows and roof to accommodate interior spaces. These spaces include courtrooms and hearing rooms, rightsized to functionally accommodate judicial staff and the public. The judicial spaces will be situated on the first three floors of the building arrayed in double-loaded corridors to improve wayfinding and ease-of-access throughout the courthouse. Additionally, the facility will feature waiting areas specifically designed to provide open, daylit public spaces that lead into various courtrooms.

The Balfour Beatty and Samet Corporation joint venture team will work with their design partners CJMW Architecture, SLAM, Lynch Mykins and O’Brien Atkins throughout the delivery of the courthouse which is scheduled for delivery Spring 2023.