St. Marks Commons & Chapel

St. Mark’s Episcopal Church, the second-largest church in the Episcopal Diocese of Florida, is located in Jacksonville’s historic Ortega neighborhood. St. Mark’s Episcopal Day School is a ministry of the Church and serves more than 400 children ages one through grade six.  GM HILL was retained as the structural engineering sub-consultant to unite the church and school campuses, which had previously been divided.  The project scope called for a new 10,000 SF commons building, renovations and additions to the 1968 historic chapel, and 7,400 SF of new covered walkways and drop-off pavilion. The church and school remained open throughout construction, requiring a carefully coordinated multi-phased approach. The new Lori Schiavone Commons building features an industrial kitchen, a gymnasium/multi-purpose room with sports flooring, a performance stage with audio/visual equipment, increased seating capacity, and more. The ceiling of the McRae-Winston Chapel was raised to create a vaulted ceiling and expanded seating capacity. Other chapel renovations included the restoration of the chapel’s existing stained glass and the addition of new stained-glass windows.

This project won the 2012 Excellence in Construction awards from the Florida First Coast Chapter of the Associated Builders and Contractors (ABC).

Construction Costs $4M