Flashy office spaces with unique designs are fun to look at, but the most important part of an office space is functionality. The companies we’ll explore here know exactly how to find the balance between fun and practical.

10) Amicon Construction

Website | (305) 573-8030 | 7430 NE 4th Court, Miami, FL 33138

When it comes to press coverage, Amicon Construction does well for itself. Its projects garner attention. Amicon has been mentioned in such publications as the South Florida Business Journal, the Miami Herald, The Real Deal, Restaurant & Retail Facility Business, and Fast Casual, among others.

Founded in 1996, Amicon has come to do it all. The company both operates and oversees construction projects. When South Florida experienced a real estate boom in 2005, Amicon started a construction management firm run by Chief Executive Adam Mopsick. Approximately dozen employees take care of hiring general contractors, overseeing work on build sites, budgeting and scheduling.

Featured Projects

On the 20th floor of One Financial Plaza in Fort Lauderdale, Amicon helped to build Pipeline Workspaces — a coworking space designed by Gensler. The space encourages collaboration and connection.There are open workspaces, private offices, conference rooms, phone booths, and a cafe.

The firm also worked on the Pipeline office in Coral Gables, which features exposed ductwork on the ceiling and accents like colorful picnic tables and wooden mushrooms. But perhaps the defining characteristic of an Amicon-designed office space is the presence of simple, clean lines, which make it easy for employees to work with clear, open minds.

9) Kaufman Lynn Construction

Website | (561) 361-6700 | 4850 T-Rex Avenue, Suite 300, Boca Raton, FL 33431

Kaufman Lynn Construction has been honored with 18 craftsmanship awards from the Construction Association of South Florida over the past five years alone. The firm has also won two Golden Eagle awards for Quality Construction from ABC, and a national ENR “Best of the Best” award for its Freedom Tower restoration.  

The company is led by President Mike Kaufman, a three-year finalist for the Ernst and Young Entrepreneur of the Year Florida Award. He was around for the firm’s founding in 1989. He has won several handfuls of awards over the years, including the 2009 Excalibur Award – Palm Beach County Small Business Leader of te Year b the Sun Sentinel, a Lifetime Achievement Award and 2008 Ultimate CEO for Palm Beach County from the South Florida Business Journal.

Featured Projects

Kaufman Lynn worked on 2020 Salzedo, a 16-story, mixed-use building in Coral Gables that has the aesthetic of a sort of castle. The 213-unit structure includes 65,037 square feet of office space. The building also includes retail space and 299,140 square feet of apartment area. The 7-story parking garage, measuring 205,238 square feet, accommodates 566 vehicles. Also on this project was architectural firm BC Architects AIA.

The Kaufman Lynn Headquarters Office in Delray Beach is an example of the company’s ability to design the unconventional. The three-story, 23,298-square-foot headquarters features a patterned wall with oval-esque cutouts. The building, which features a gray-silver color scheme, looks like a piece of modern art.

8) Ajax Building Corp.

Website / (850) 224-9571 / 1080 Commerce Boulevard, Midway, FL 32343

J.B. “Block” Smith founded Ajax Building Corporation half a century ago. From the time of its founding in 1958, Ajax has seen three generations of Smiths help to lead the company. Block’s grandson, John B. Smith II, is the current vice president. The family’s commitment to the company is what has allowed it to expand to the extent that it has.

Over the years, Ajax has won a variety of awards, including some from the North Florida Chapter of the ABC. In 2016, the ABC awarded Ajax the “Project of the Year” award for its work on the Sarasota County Emergency Operations Center. The company has also won such awards as the SHARP award from the Occupational Safety and Health Administration and USF SafetyFlorida, as well as the USGBC North Florida Innovation in New Construction Award.

Featured Projects

Way back in February 1998, Ajax completed an office building for the Florida Department of Revenue. The project, which involved Barnett Fronczak Architects and Hunton Brady, totaled $8,693,000. The 110,000-square-foot office building is made of a concrete frame with pre-cast beams. Columns and floors were poured into place. The building was made to be energy-efficient, and the project was completed a month ahead of schedule — a feat almost unheard of in the realm of construction.

In Macclenny, Ajax helped to build the Baker Correctional Development Corporation, a $32,650,000 project that involved architectural firm Clemons Rutherford & Associates, Inc. Built on a 91-acre site and completed in June 2009, the four-building, 141,000-square-foot complex houses more than just administrative offices. Aside from the offices, the complex features an Emergency Operations Center, 911 Call Center and Detention Facility, two Confinement Buildings that can accommodate nearly 300 inmates, and a building for Fleet Maintenance.

7) Clark Construction

Website | (813) 636-4422 | 2502 North Rocky Point Drive, Suite 200, Tampa, FL 33607

Clark Construction has been around since 1906, when it was just a small local company run by a man named George Hyman. Today, the company employs over 4,000 people in offices all over the United States. In its century+ of business, Clark has won more than 1,400 awards for its work.

Clark has garnered such honors as 19 Associated General Contractors of America – Alliant Build America Awards, four Engineering News-Record Best of the Best Awards, and eight associated Builders & Contractors – National Excellence in Construction Eagle Awards.

Featured Projects

Clark was awarded a $26,000,000 contract for the Hillsborough Public Safety Operations Complex in Tampa. Completed in 2016, for Hillsborough County, the 85,000-square-foot, LEED-certified building is made of steel and concrete. A steel frame supports bearing tilt concrete panels. The complex, meant to be used, in part, for emergency services, was built with mechanical and electrical systems that can accommodate critical needs under unforseen circumstances.

The company also worked on the USCENTCOM Joint Intelligence Center  headquarters at the MacDill Air Force Base. The two-phase, $83,200,000 project produced a 257,000-square-foot building of four stories. The construction included a central utility plant, mitigation pond, and 350,000-gallon, above-ground, pre-stressed concrete storage tank, as well as numerous Sensitive Compartmented Information Facility areas.

6) T&G Constructors

Website | (305) 592-0552 | 8348 NW 56th Street, Doral, FL 33166

T&G was awarded the AIA Contractor of the Year Award, and proudly says so on the homepage of its website. And the company really does have a lot to be proud of. The firm has completed about $1 billion in projects to date, including renovations and new buildings, and has offices in Miami, Orlando, Dallas, and Houston.

President Rick Gonzalez and Vice President Dave Grabosky, who are each LEED-accredited and three decades into their careers, co-founded T&G in 1987. The company has accumulated a list of awards, including multiple Associated Builders and Contractors’ Platinum STEP National Safety Awards.

Featured Projects

In October 2006, T&G completed renovations on the Broward College Library in Fort Lauderdale — a $1 million project that provided updated facilities for the institution’s 40,000 students. T&G worked with Saltz Michaelson Architects to build out more than 9,000 square feet of space. The firms transformed the space, creating reading rooms, a book collection room, two conference rooms, five office, a break room, a lobby and a reception area.

Universal Studios Florida is not all fun and games. Behind the magic, there must be office space. T&G took a $2.8 million contract in the late 1990s to build a two-story office building at Universal. Completed in January 1999, the 42,000-square-foot structure was built for additional park administrative and support staff while the park was working on the Islands of Adventure expansion. This building is not the fanciest you’ll see, but it served its purpose and fit in with the Floridian zeitgeist of the late 1990s.

5) Link Construction Group

Website | (305) 665-9826 | 5330 NW 77th CT, Doral, FL 33136

Guillermo Fernandez and Miguel Cerra started Link in the early spring of 2001. The company has focused on growing its clientele in South Florida. Revenues have totaled over $400 million over the years.

Guillermo went to school in Florida, first earning an associates in arts degree from Miami Dade College and then earning a bachelor of science in construction management from Florida International University. He and Miguel are very much involved in the South Florida Community, through organizations like the South Florida East Coast chapter of Associated Builders and Contractors, the Building Owners and Manager Association, and NAIOP. The firm has garnered numerous awards and honors, among them Guillermo’s 2013 induction into the 2013 Miami Dade College Hall of Fame for Urban Development & Construction.

Featured Projects

Along with architect Behar Font, Link Construction Group is working on the headquarters of Little Havana Activities & Nutrition Centers of Dade County. The 4-story, 43,099-square-foot building — a new building right next to the old headquarters, which will be taken down once the new one is built and operational — has been designed as a multi-purpose community complex. There will be 103 parking spaces, 83 of which will be in a parking lot, as well as a fire sprinkler system, office areas, health clinic, multi-purpose rooms, fitness area, elevators, and day care facilities.

In Doral, the company worked on The Point at Doral Office Park. The project consists of a 70,000-square-foot building and a 20,000-square foot building, each with tilt-wall construction. With clean lines and a simple-in-a-good-way design, the building in a commercial office park provides traditional office space in keeping with the style of the neighborhood’s architecture.

4) Moss

Website / (954) 524-5678 / 2101 N. Andrews Ave., Fort Lauderdale, FL 33311

Moss, a privately-held construction firm founded in 2004 by Bob Moss, grew from a company that employed two people to one that employs hundreds. Its founder has been in the business for almost five decades, and has been involved with such projects as various Walt Disney World resorts, Marlins Park and the Nova Southeastern University Guy Harvey Oceanographic Center.

Bob himself has been named to the University of Florida Construction hall of Fame, the Clemson Construction Hall of Fame, and Broward Workshop’s Top 102 CEOs. In 2012, the EASE foundation named Bob Humanitarian of the Year.

But the strength of this firm, really, is in its team of leaders.  Chad Moss, executive vice president, co-funded the company. Scott Moss, who has been working in construction since he was a teenager, is company president. He was Moss’ first employee.

Featured Projects

Moss worked with architectural firm Glidden Spina and Partners to construct the Northern Trust Office, a 55,000-square-foot project in downtown Miami. The LEED PLatinum-Certified office is in Miami’s financial district, in the Brickell World Plaza building. The firm did an interior build-out of several floors — part of the 22nd, all of the 23rd, 24th, and ground.  

Moss has also worked on various correctional facilities and the Marion County Judicial Expansion in Ocala. The five-story, 158,038-square-foot expansion involved Rispoli & associates Architecture, Inc./HOK. The firms created administrative offices and courtrooms and jury quarters, as well as secured parking areas for judges and goverment officials. They also worked to improve inmate access and holding cells.

3) Turner Construction Co.

Website | (786) 621-9000 | 7235 Corporate Center Dr. g, Miami, FL 33126

President and CEO Peter J. Davoren leads Turner Construction Co., a multi-national company that employs 5,200 people. Turner employees wrap up on 1,500 projects per year, representing a dollar amount of 10 billion.

Davoren, who studied at Pratt Institute, worked as a field engineer in Boston before moving to New York in 1980. He has been president of Turner since 2003, and CEO since 2004.

Turner tries to operate the way a local firm does, making itself and its employees accessible to clients, but happens to have the financial security of the expansive company that it is. Turner emphasizes the importance of taking safety precautions to prevent worksite accidents and does its best to build green.

In 2017, Advisory HQ named Turner one of the top 6 best commercial building contractors in the United States; the Engineering News-Record named the company the number one green builder in the country on its “Top 100 Green Buildings Contractors and Green Buildings Design Firms” list. The company won the same ENR award in 2016.

Featured Projects

Turner had its hands in the Yahoo! Building in Coral Gables, where violet-hued velvet chairs pop against yellow accents. The project was an interior fit out. Office spaces are separated now with glass partitions; ceilings are etal; contemporary millwork, perforated metal and stainless steel panels, and sliding glass doors are scattered throughout. The company retrofitted and added mechanical duct and variable air volume boxes, upgraded the fire alarm system, and set up the space with electric, phone and data access.  

2) Coastal Construction Group

Website | (305) 559-4900 | 5959 Blue Lagoon Drive, Suite 200, Miami, FL 33126

Coastal Construction Group has been in business since 1988. Four generations of Murphy’s, beginning with Tom Murphy, an immigrant carpenter, have led Coastal. Today, it holds a spot on a list of the top 100 construction management companies in America. The company does work mainly on commercial, hospitality, education, residential, mixed-use, worship, interiors, historic restoration, and disaster recovery projects.  

The Associated General Contractors of America awarded Coastal Construction Group the Willis/AGC Construction Safety Excellence Award, its highest construction safety honor, in 2015. Twenty bilingual safety managers work to uphold company safety standards, led by Vice President of Safety David Wessin; and the 2015 safety award was not its first. The company is a three-time winner of the Sunshine State Safety Award from the University of South Florida, among other similar honors.

Featured Projects

1450 Brickell, a 1.1 million-square-foot office tower, stands 35 stories tall. Coastal helped to create the stunningly sleek structure. Breaking up the glass are three open-air sundeck gardens, on the 11th, 14th, and 35th floors. The glass curtain walls are made of large missile impact-resistant glass that can withstand up to 327 mph winds. According to Coastal’s website, the LEED Gold Certified office building is the only one in the office building market to be wind resistant to such an extent.

Coastal also worked on the International Finance Bank that straddles Miami and Coral Gables. The bank is 7 stories tall and features a drive thru. But it’s more than a bank: the ground floor includes retail space, and the upper floors include offices; there are three floors for parking. The building takes up almost half of a city block, and has two office levels designed to allow inhabitants and visitors to take full advantage of the view of South Florida’s incredible landscape.

1) Suffolk Construction Co.

Website | (305) 374-1107 | 1 Biscayne Tower 2 S Biscayne Blvd. Suite #2700 Miami FL 33131

Suffolk Construction Co. aims to innovate, always. Its employees work by the motto, “build smart.” The Miami office is purposefully located in bustling Downtown, where architects and clients can easily stop by the office.

Jeff Gouveia, president and general manager of the Southeast region, leads the Miami team. Gouveia started out as a junior estimator in a cubicle at Suffolk and worked his way up. He leads with Pete Tuffo, chief operating office of the southeast. The company has garnered various awards throughout the years, including a slew of awards in 2010 for mixed-use building Fifth and Alton.

Featured Projects

Suffolk won three awards for its work on the Wells Fargo Center office building and accompanying JW Marriott Marquis and Hotel Beaux Arts. The two towers, connected by a 1,100-space parking facility, make up 1,533,200 square feet. The structures were designed by architectural firm Nichols Brosch Wurst Wolfe & Associates, Inc. In recognition of Suffolk’s work, the Urban Land institute awarded the company its 2011 “Vision Award;” the USGBC South Florida Chapter awarded Suffolk its “Most Outstanding LEED CS Project” honor that same year; and in 2010, the Associated Builders and Contractors awarded Suffolk the “Excellence in Construction – Eagle Award.”

Suffolk also worked on the Northern Palm Beach Emergency Operation Center, a two-story, 14,000-square-foot structure built to survive a Category 5 Hurricane. The building is meant to hold up to 200-mph winds. There are offices for the staff of the Northern Palm Beach County Improvement District, a bunk room, a kitchen, and a “War Room” for pre-storm strategy meetings. For this construction, the Associated Builders and Contractors awarded Suffolk its 2008 “Excellence in Construction” award.