 Storefront rendering of Southern Grounds Avondale Have you noticed something missing at the Shoppes at Avondale – say, a building or two? Realco Recycling Co., Inc. began demolition Jan. 3. on the space, located at 3562 St. Johns Ave. Once demolition is complete, Angelo Group, the project contractor, will hit the ground running to complete the newest coffee shop location. After exploring options to renovate the space, Southern Grounds & Co. worked with Riverside Avondale Preservation to determine the building was a noncontributing structure – it didn’t meet the criteria for historical preservation. Group 4 developed a façade in keeping with the historic character of the neighborhood and a plan that would benefit the neighborhood by incorporating retail, event space and restaurant efficiently. Avondale is a vibrant, historic community known for its walkability and connectedness – Southern Grounds creates spaces where communities can “Gather Together.”  Space plan for Southern Grounds Avondale Southern Grounds Avondale will seat around 163 people, including a private room that can be reserved for special events. The chef-driven coffee shop serves a full menu of breakfast and brunch items, beer, wine and an assortment of dessert items. Like their other locations, they aim to provide a cozy place for friends and neighbors to gather while enjoying fresh roasted coffee and locally sourced, sustainably grown food. And, did we mention it’s delicious? It is. Southern Grounds is affectionately known as SoGro to locals in Neptune Beach and San Marco, where their first two shops are located. The chef-inspired coffee house started in Neptune Beach in 2016, and followed with a second location in San Marco in 2018. The local company was just selected to open a location at Jacksonville International Airport – coffee fans can shop local the second they touch ground. We are so excited for our friends at Southern Grounds and for the Avondale community to gain such an awesome neighbor. Hopefully we’ll be able to gather together with some of you soon over an oat milk latte and an heirloom tomato tartine! 
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 Everyone in the office is reading Babes Who Hustle this week. The site interviewed Jessica White, Group 4 senior interior designer, about the big issues facing working women and interior design. Jessica talks about the future of ID, collaborating with architects – and even a few of her favorites music recommendations (she's a Texas girl). Jessica joined us in 2017 after working for more than a decade in the Dallas-Fort Worth market in high-end residential and healthcare design. In September, her project, Southern Grounds San Marco, won first prize at the ASID Florida North 2019 Chapter Awards. On Why Design Matters "Interior design is an integral part of our overall well-being. Once people realize it’s more than just women picking pretty colors and expensive furniture, we’ll stop being devalued as much as we have been in the past." Senior Living is Close to Her Heart "My grandmother was in a dementia care facility, and seeing her there made me realize how important the design of these spaces are." Some Good Advice "A lot of people will tell you what you should and shouldn't be doing ... take that and decide what you actually want for yourself." What can we say? We love a woman who takes her work seriously – and with a little style.
Read the full interview at Babes Who Hustle.and check out her work at Southern Grounds San Marco.  Group 4 brought home some serious hardware (again) Thursday, May 23, at the Best Places to Work event, hosted by the Jacksonville Business Journal.
Group 4 was awarded No. 2 in the extra small category — 10 to 24 employees. The event was held at the Baseball Grounds of Jacksonville, in historic downtown. Our partners at Vestcor also placed at No. 4 on the list for extra small. The Best Places to Work award is all about employees. It recognizes local companies with excellent team morale and engagement — something we take very seriously at G4. This is the second time Group 4 has won the award — it previously won in 2015 and was spotlighted as one of Jacksonville’s 50 fastest-growing companies in 2013. Our team culture spurs successful projects. From drawing to completion — our team loves to watch a project come to life. Read the full list of winners here. Group 4 delivers innovative design and outstanding project management with a collaborative approach. Ready to work with the Group 4 team? Contact us today. "Drawings are to architecture what language is to humans." Joey Rivera, associate senior project designer at Group 4, uses drawings to create shared understanding at the beginning of the project. In an office full of talented designers and architects, Rivera's work stands out thanks to its accuracy and beauty. "My whole being gets inspired." Rivera said. "There is a connection, my brain, my soul and my hand." Rivera's drawings are rooted in research. He's inspired by a variety of architectural styles and is always scouring the Internet, reading, photographing or otherwise looking for new ideas. We asked Joey to give us some tips to create jaw-dropping drawings. Step 1: Get inspired
"I look up references and past precedents for inspiration. This is an essential step in staying true to an architectural style, like post-war modernism, art-nouveau or contemporary." Step 2: Get organized "This is just a matter of assembling the materials and tools I will use to create the drawing or sketch or rendering. I use a mix of pens, pencils and markers. Will it be drawn on sketch paper, vellum or heavy stock paper. It all depends on the outcome the client needs." Step 3: Turn up the jams "I also need to put on my headphones and listen to my favorite music. It really helps me get in a creative mood. If the sketch is traditional, I listen to classical. If it is modern, I listen to dance music!" We take drawing seriously. A detailed and accurate drawing keeps projects moving quickly. Poor drawings create confusion and delays. Want to work with Group 4? Contact us today.  Group 4 Design won two awards Friday, March 28, at the Illuminate Awards. The event was hosted by the IIDA North Florida Chapter. Awards won by Group 4:
The office rebuild award is especially meaningful to the Group 4 team. Hurricane Irma flooded our offices in 2017 and presented a challenge no business wants to face: How do you keep going after a catastrophic event? This was new territory for us.  The answer was "through our amazing relationships." We lived briefly with our friends at Summit Contracting and used the libraries of DesignMind and Reynolds, Smith & Hill. We also received help from:
We're humbled by your support and grateful for your friendship. All we can say is "thank you."  Community is essential to Group 4's mission. From our industry partners to our client partners, we learn something new about our community with each project. Relationships with clients Smith, Hulsey & Busey – who have served Jacksonville for more than 100 years – encourage us and inspire us. We dedicate our Large Corporate award to their tireless good work. Congratulations to our project team members on this award: Lori Avampato, project designer, and team members Valerie Backmann, Jack Braxtan and Leigh Gunn.  Our team loves corporate office projects: Many of us spend the majority of our waking hours in offices, sometimes working under the stress of some serious deadlines. It's important to create a space that is energizing, low-stress and engaging. Want us to take a look at your office project? Let's talk.
 You might have noticed some changes popping up around our website — we’ve been so busy working for the last 10 (10!) years that we rarely look up long enough to update the digital world on our work.
We’re excited about all the work we have to share:
We’re excited to add new architecture and interior design team members, and to show you what’s on the boards right now, too. If you haven’t Liked us on Facebook or followed us on Instagram, we’d love for you to check us out — we’re sharing some of Group 4’s latest work in architecture and interior design. We’re especially excited at the creative energy revitalizing Jacksonville’s Urban Core. Downtown Jacksonville was part of the story from our earliest days. Relationships are essential to Group 4’s fresh approach to architecture — and relationships are energizing Jacksonville’s creative community. We remain committed to our community and affordable housing. Architecture and interior design shape every single moment of our lives. Both hold strong power over our health and our emotions. Our experience in the last decade — from a recession to Irma — shaped us, too. We’re excited to create spaces that bring communities together. We’re excited to talk to you about it. Stay tuned! Group 4 Design  The good news just keeps rolling in: The Jacksonville Daily Record featured our recent project for our friends at Smith Hulsey & Busey.
Smith Hulsey & Busey has an impressive tradition — they’ve been part of our community for more than 100 years and have called their office at One Enterprise Center for more than 30 years. For their move to the Wells Fargo Center, the team wanted to help the law firm attract and retain top young legal talent. They also wanted to foster personal creativity and collaboration. Check out the article — our favorite part is the last line: “We are very pleased,” Jean Busey, executive director, said. Award winning project.... 5 Thousand Town .... recipient of the 2015 IIDA North Florida Interior Design Award in the Residential category.
The Marina San Pablo Yacht Club, recently renovated by Group 4 Design, now houses the Sales Gallery for Aphora at Marina San Pablo, a new luxury condominium tower near the current Marina San Pablo residence. Our design team preserved the beautiful views of the marina while creating an unobtrusive sales gallery within the club for Aphora. The residents of Marina San Pablo continue to use the clubhouse for community functions and private parties, while Aphora welcomes future residents who are ready to upgrade their lifestyle to the Aphora way of living. By creating subtle changes to the interior finishes and changing the furniture to a more coastal and transitional style, the designers were able to create spaces aligned with the design direction for Aphora at Marina San Pablo. Aphora will be an ultra-luxury condominium near J. Turner Butler Boulevard and San Pablo Road on the Intracoastal Waterway in Jacksonville, Fla. Sales are underway for the 57 residences and the building, homes and amenity spaces are being designed by Group 4 Design’s architecture and interior design team. Visit Aphora’s website at www.aphoracondos.com or call 904-515-5099 for a preview of the project or to arrange a visit to the newly renovated Aphora Sales Gallery.
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