Our Firm

For the past 37 years, Caldwell Associates has dedicated its practice toward becoming one of the most versatile architecture firms on the Gulf Coast.

About Us

We bring creative and thoughtful design solutions to the conception and development of each and every project. This enables our participation in crafting buildings and public spaces that are successful, well-received, sustainable and contribute to the communities in which they are built.

Beginning with the renovation of a mule barn on the outskirts of downtown (where our office still is today), we always enjoy participating in the creation of architecture representative of its place and people.

At the core of our success is a talented staff whose efforts and investment in our cause ensure that exactitude, precision, and attention to detail are present in all aspects of our daily production. These efforts are rewarded with repeat clientele and continuing contracts in nearly every industry including commercial, hospitality, health care, military and education. Our success is a testament to the people who come to work with us every day.

As active members of our community, we share the desire to reflect the purpose of design within the built environment, the important role buildings play in creating and preserving the urban fabric, and the community-building aspects of good design.

On a 1 to 10 scale, I would rate them a 12. They finished the job ahead of schedule and under budget.

Sandy Sansing, President

Sandy Sansing Automotive Group

Our Philosophy

Our firm’s design philosophy is community building through good design.

We embrace the collaborative nature of architecture, and believe that our best work is achieved when the efforts of many work toward a common goal.

Good design improves the lives of those it serves. It is embedded in the process of thoughtful problem solving and the creation of architecture representative of its place. Our projects have the greatest impact on the communities they serve, sharing thematically in the transformative role of good design.

Practice Makes Perfect

For the first 20 years of our practice, our firm focused on production architecture—fast-paced, highly varied projects where success is measured solely by speed, efficiency, and cost. Though at times unglamorous, it allowed us to establish a clear process for developing client’s ideas, translating them into architectural form and producing accurate detailed drawings for construction.

As our role expanded into higher-profile projects, we maintained our work ethic and the rigor of our approach. Our sense of urgency and responsibility to owners remains unchanged when managing project budgets, schedules, deliverables, and the impact on daily operations. Our framework measures project successes beyond the parameters of time and cost and keeps us rooted in the fundamental expectations of our clients.

Leading with Collaboration

Our ability to organize, collaborate, and lead the complex efforts of realizing architectural endeavors is as significant as our ability to delineate our ideas on paper. Working with engineers, users and the public, our leadership manifests through architectural programming, charrettes, and other forms of input. These communications shape the critical early stages of project development and craft a broader definition of success for our clients. Project leadership, not just project management, has become a benchmark of our positive client feedback.

Embracing Technology

Architecture is tasked with transforming complex ideas and inert material into built forms, creating environments for people to live, work and play. Technology plays an integral role in communicating our ideas to our clients, engineers and contractors. We create a workplace where our staff is enabled by technology, where their ideas are developed and tested. Our staff is empowered—not limited—by the tools at their disposal.

While fully embracing leading edge technology, we insist upon utilizing all of the tools at our disposal. We employ traditional sketches and physical models as well as modern three-dimensional and virtual reality imaging. Technology is, after all, simply an advanced means to facilitate the vision of our clients.

Getting Feedback

We constantly measure performance, whether through a client’s evaluation of a floor plan, an employee’s measure of our professional development, or even scoring the success of a project meeting. As the saying goes, you cannot improve what you do not measure. Bringing the greatest value to projects through our vision, our ideas and our people requires constantly seeking better ways to deliver our services. We utilize short, three-question surveys after meetings, in-depth evaluations at major project submittals, post-occupancy surveys and other means to collect comprehensive and varied responses to our work. It is critical to convey to our clients the importance of their input to our success.

Caldwell Associates has an outstanding approach to communicate effectively, listen intently, and function collaboratively with integral leadership and external agencies, to proactively meet design milestone dates on time, and remain within budget.

Dr. James Barnett, Former Associate Vice President

University of West Florida

Sustainability

Caldwell Associates believes passionately in the role architects play in responsible stewardship of the environment.

 We champion the ideals of sustainable design, carbon footprint reduction and smart growth.

The construction and operation of buildings has a tremendous impact on the environment. It is our responsibility and obligation to educate our clients and implement strategies that ensure the long-term success of the global community and built environment.

We understand that sustainable design is not something that is simply applied to projects. Rather, it is a philosophical approach to responsible development and sensitivity to the limitations of our natural resources. We help our clients create a balanced approach from project inception through operations.

Our Sustainability Efforts

Project sustainability efforts begin with basic strategies such as optimal building orientation. Our process continues through complex mechanical system design, energy reuse and post-occupancy evaluations. We demonstrate to our clients that sustainable design is not only morally right, but also is good for business and translates into real dollars.

Utilizing advanced energy modeling, we test multiple design solutions early in the process. This enables owners to make educated decisions about balancing their strategy to optimize their investment. We follow through post-occupancy with the ability to measure, improve, and reduce energy and water usage while limiting waste. Our software provides low/no cost maintenance checklists to assist our clients in the management of their facilities.

Project Sustainability Successes

A.K. Suter

Top 3% in county through a combination of advanced mechanical systems and insulated concrete form envelope.

Sacred Heart

Preventing 40 megatons of Co2 from entering the atmosphere.

A.K. Suter is the standard by which the district will expect on future elementary schools.

Shawn Dennis, Assistant Superintendent -Operations

Escambia County School District

Expertise

Caldwell Associates is fortunate to share our skills as planners, thinkers, designers and managers in a tremendous variety of projects along the Gulf Coast.

With 36 years of experience practicing architecture out of our historic, beautiful and growing city, we balance design, speed and economy in all our endeavors. We continue to serve a growing base of community-minded clients, partnering in our efforts to improve lives through good design.

Listed below are some of the services we offer in helping develop your project:

Architectural Design

Interior Design

Design/Build

Design Consulting

Building Information Modeling

Oculus – Immersive Virtual Reality Walk-throughs

Feasibility Studies

Site Analysis

Marketing Renderings

Specification Writing

Facilities Surveys

Branding

Existing Conditions Field Drawings

Master Planning

Design Charrettes

Community/ Shareholder Input Meetings

Public Presentations

Sustainable Design Strategy

Project Scheduling

Government Agency Document Preparation

Conceptual Design

Space Planning

Architectural Programming

3-D Study Models

3-D Printing

Budget Development/Cost Estimating

Budget Analysis

Cost Analysis

Construction Management

Owner Representation

Bid Evaluation

Record Drawings

Construction Observation

Submittal Review

With their professionals, leadership, passion, knowledge, and energy, Caldwell Associates is one of the top architectural firms with whom we have engaged.

Robert Shepko

Balfour Beatty

Our Culture

It takes a tenacious group of passionate individuals who lead with the end in mind to tackle the successful practice of architecture.

 Caldwell Associates has a dynamic, collaborative culture with an interesting mix of unique, fun loving professionals who share in the philosophy of community building through good design. We live what we promote in the work we do.

Caldwell Associates creates a workplace where individuals thrive by encouraging participation, professional development, and appreciation for a dynamic group work ethic. We are investing in ourselves, in our community, and in the future.

Although we are passionate about the daily production of our work and its impact on our community, we are ultimately working to live in the environment that we help to create and preserve. Whether it is going to see a Pensacola Blue Wahoos game at our waterfront stadium, enjoying Thanksgiving Potluck at our office or regular Friday walks for lunch downtown, we embrace our team, their personalities, and their aspirations. We love our work, but more importantly, we love our people.

We dedicate a portion of our work to pro bono projects by sharing our skills with the community. Our staff volunteers their personal time throughout the community to a variety of organizations working to improve the lives of those they serve.

demonstrated his commitment by his loyal involvement in community and civic projects that are aimed at making our community a better place to live, work, and play

Lumon May, Mays Construction

Escambia County Commission Chairman

Our Team

Our Multifaceted Team

The focus of our individual architects, designers and team members trend towards certain disciplines and aptitudes.

For some, this includes a deep understanding of construction techniques and documentation. For others, their motivations drive them to create spaces that energize and inspire, to take an environment and mold it to elicit productivity and engagement. Our support staff is dedicated to understanding the driving factors behind a project and the underlying desires of our clientele.

We invite you to contact us and discuss how Caldwell Associates can apply this diverse set of talents and personalities to bring your project to life.

The personal interest of all the Caldwell employees is something I have not experienced in my past dealings with architectural firms.

Principal Russell Queen

A.K. Suter Elementary School