By Joe Capozzi
South Palm Beach officials in late October announced two special Town Council meetings for early November to interview architects interested in designing a new Town Hall with structural insulated panels — a cost-efficient construction system known by the acronym SIPs.
On Nov. 2, the council planned to interview CPZ Architects at 2 p.m. and REG Architects at 3 p.m. On Nov. 4, the council plans to interview Slattery & Associates at 1 p.m.
The interviews will be conducted over two meetings because all three firms could not meet with the council on the same day, said Mayor Bonnie Fischer.
The three firms were the only ones that responded to a request for qualifications to design using SIPs.
“It’s a fairly new technology and it’s just starting to catch on and there’s not too many (firms) doing this in South Florida,’’ said Town Manager Robert Kellogg.
The Town Council on Oct. 18 expressed a desire to offer a contract to a firm at its next regular meeting, Nov. 15. If that happens, it will mark the second time in 13 months the council has hired an architect to design a new Town Hall.
On Oct. 12, 2021, the council hired Synalovski Romanik Saye but parted ways with the firm less than a year later on Sept. 19. The town paid SRS $55,199 for designs for a $6.5 million building before Fischer persuaded the council this summer to start over using the SIPs method.
She said her research suggests a town hall made of structural insulated panels could cost just $2 million.
Since 2016, the town has spent about $114,000 on studies and drawings for a new Town Hall.
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