Davie council gets 80% design update for new town hall; construction targeted for August

Design teams from Song & Associates and Kaufman Lynn presented an 80% design update to the Davie Town Council on May 21 for the new Town Hall building, showing an L‑shaped, four‑story building with a council chamber, public lobby, customer service “one‑stop” area, and public gathering spaces along a north‑south pedestrian spine.

Jill Lanigan of Song & Associates and Philip Holst, assistant town administrator, told council the design remains roughly 80–84,000 square feet across four floors and will include a council chamber volume on the ground level. Lanigan said the team was preparing building permit submissions and expected to start full construction in early August, with preparatory “early work” already under way on the site, including tree root pruning and utility coordination.

Several council members pressed staff for specifics about tree relocation. Lanigan said only trees within the building footprint were being relocated and that “we are keeping all of the major trees around the perimeters.” A project team member said seven trees within the center footprint would be relocated after a 90‑day root‑pruning process designed to preserve viability. Council members asked for a site plan identifying which trees are dedicated (with memorial plaques) and which would be moved; staff responded that dedicated trees would not be relocated and that documentation and tagging of relocated trees are part of the plan.

Lanigan walked council through the ground floor plan, showing the public drop‑off roundabout and a History Pavilion along the pedestrian spine that staff said could support markets and community events. The entry sequence integrates historic motifs such as a porch and split‑rail fencing tied to Davie’s western architectural character. Programmatically, the floor plans show building department operations to the west, council chambers and community services to the east and a multi‑purpose meeting space on each floor.

Council members also asked about natural light to office areas; Lanigan said each office would have windows and that design prioritized bringing daylight into work areas as part of wellness and mental‑health design goals. On mechanical and support spaces, Lanigan said central mechanical rooms and cores would occupy consistent locations across floors.

No formal vote was required at the presentation; council members asked staff to provide the tree relocation map showing which trees were dedicated, which could be moved and the root‑pruning schedule. The team said they would return with additional details and continue coordinating permit submissions.