In 2007, for the first time, the company programmed, designed and built its own office facility to accommodate its business interests. The office is located at the gateway to the World Golf Village (WGV) in St. Augustine, Florida.

A live oak and glossy abelia shrubs on the north fa?????ade of the building shelter the courtyard from the perimeter driving lane.

The Davidson Companies' Building was built for people. It is a people-friendly place that caters to visitors, clients and employees. The arts and crafts building is a landmark of innovative architectural design and has quickly become known as an icon at the front door to the WGV. The building is a welcome beacon, demonstrating the high-quality built environment of the location, while showcasing the original WGV building and landscape material palette that distinguishes the site.

Here, the courtyard is viewed from the interior lobby through showcase windows. A pair of French doors offers access to the courtyard from both sides of the windows.

The Davidson Building was conceived to be a stimulating, yet comfortable atmosphere in which to conduct its associated realty businesses. It's designed to be residential and have a distinctly homey appeal. The building entices visitors to linger and the courtyard draws them outside to appreciate the wonderful year-round north Florida climate. The combination of the refined and classic interiors with the rugged and relaxed courtyard signals the company's style and illustrates its unique approach to business.

A sense of craftsmanship and attention to detail inside and out is evident throughout the building. The exterior is completely finished on all four sides instead of having a front and back. The interiors feature solid wood and cherry-veneer moldings, doors, doorframes, beams, baseboards and window casings. The conference rooms and closing rooms are designated with arts and crafts inspired signage carrying the names of Holly, Magnolia, River Birch, Crape Myrtle, Loblolly Bay, Drake Elm and Live Oak. There are a variety of exterior and interior custom lighting fixtures creating interesting light effects day and night.
The centerpiece of the building is the outdoor, open-air, shady courtyard, the site of numerous weekly, monthly and annual special events.

The courtyard view continues through the lobby windows all the way through the front door reception of the building. The courtyard accommodates seating and dining on eco-friendly, solid teakwood lanai furnishings.

When you enter the courtyard from the building lobby it provides a welcoming experience and you see and encounter all of its elements. The curved faces of the twin water features embrace the compass rose form and seem to beckon and welcome, like a pair of outstretched arms saying, ''Come on in.'' Yet, when you enter the courtyard from the balcony, it offers a very different exposure and experience. From the balcony, the courtyard furnishings are tucked beneath the balcony, so you see the purity of the design statement: the texture, patterns and rich coloration of the floor, the intricate graphic mosaic, the twin water features cradling the compass, the grand fireplace and large chimney and copper chimney pot and the soft framing of the landscaped planters.

The Lion Fountain basin greets visitors as they access the north gates to the courtyard. The lion mask is cast concrete with a single mouth spout fountain cascading into a 24"x36" cast resin basin, mounted on the chimney structure and framed in Appalachian crab-orchard stone.

The courtyard is 36' x 42', completely paved with fired-clay pavers and surrounded by stonewalls, building fa?????ades and built-in stone seat-planters. The focus of the courtyard is a large compass-rose, hand-laid mosaic that directs attention to a freestanding, 26' tall, stone fireplace featuring twin, Turkish-iridescent-tile lined water basins with triple fountain plumes. Together, these main elements portray an invigorating fire and water theme. The courtyard accommodates seating and dining on eco-friendly, solid teakwood lanai furnishings, which can be expanded for events and parties with collapsible furnishings to maximize seating capacity.

The wide, upstairs balcony overlooks the courtyard and is itself sheltered from the elements by a doublewide cantilevered roof. The flooring is Trex composite decking.

Atop the courtyard is a second level, an overlook balcony 12' deep by 42' wide, offering yet another rain and sun protected outdoor place for meetings, daily breaks and lunches. Additionally, the building's rain-chains play with the passing showers and help animate the scene. The classic lion-mask and waterspout basin stand guard on the north side of the fireplace and courtyard. Plantings of large southern live oaks envelop and shade the building, courtyard and parking arena. Over time they will mature and provide a traditional, southern-garden look and feel.

The courtyard walls are southern cultured stone and ledgestone (caramel). The planters have the same stone, plus inserts of native Appalachian fieldstone. The seat caps are native crab orchard stone. The planters contain sansaviera and serve as the receptacle for the courtyard rain chains, tied to an ABS drain grate and directly piped to the parking field.

As an added bonus, the building provides an effective platform to serve and entertain clients, the business network and employees. In fact, Davidson does just that every Friday when it turns the catering kitchen and courtyard into ''the place to be'' for a homemade burger and hot dog barbeque. During the six cooler months of the year there's a roaring oak wood fire in the large 2.5' by 4' hearth that greets all comers each morning, distracting the work at hand, since everyone would rather enjoy the hypnotic flames and fireside camaraderie. The building provides the company with the comprehensive balance needed between life and work.

Rick Pariani, RLA, is vice president of design and development for World Golf Village (WGV), a 6,300-acre community with 3,465 homes and more than 11,000 residents. According to Mr. Pariani when WGV is fully built out there will be 7,200 homes and 1,225 hotel rooms. WGV is home to the World Golf Hall of Fame and two championship golf courses. WGV has placed in preservation easements more than 2,700 acres of wildlife habitat and water resource.

Mr. Pariani has more than 30 years of project experience in planning, design and implementation of mixed use, commercial, retail, office, residential, resort, recreational and resource preservation projects.
He was a principal at SWA Group and then a partner at EDAW. He received his BLA from the School of Environmental Design at the University of Georgia.

The architect for the WGV Building was Ronald Scalisi with Ronald Scalisi Architects, P.A.

Construction was lead by Tim Young with E.C. Kenyon Construction Co., Inc.

Building interiors were by Connie Turner with Connie Turner Interiors.