February 21, 2022

WINSTON SALEM, NC –  Balfour Beatty, in a joint venture with Samet Corporation, celebrate 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. The building will allow for the placement of security checkpoints, card access, and video surveillance tools to further safeguard the public and staff and will be designed for safe and direct connections to navigate in-custody participants to the adjacent Forsyth County Law Enforcement Center.

“This milestone signifies the outstanding progress that’s been made in the delivery of Forsyth County’s new courthouse,” said Jeff Sandeen, Balfour Beatty senior vice president and business unit leader in North Carolina. “We are proud of our joint venture team and partners for their collaboration and hard work as we work together to build a state-of-the-art facility and modernized environment for the County’s judiciary duties.”

“This is a special moment for us,” said Ken Grube, regional vice president for Samet. “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. We look forward to continuing this same success as seen here today and to delivering a facility that meets the needs of Forsyth County for years to come.”

With the structure complete, work has now shifted towards structural drying by installing exterior walls, windows, and roofs 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 in Spring 2023.