A growing city needed to bring its municipal departments together under one roof while preparing for decades of future growth. A community bank wanted to transform an existing building into a high-performance headquarters while continuing to serve customers every day. Another owner needed to balance ambitious goals, tight budgets, evolving priorities, and long-term operational needs without sacrificing quality or schedule.
On the surface, these projects couldn’t be more different. They serve different communities, different industries, and different missions. Yet each was built on the same philosophy: the best projects happen when collaboration begins long before construction. That philosophy is known as Design Build, and it has become one of the fastest-growing project delivery methods in the construction industry.
More Than One Team Under One Contract
Shown Here: Climate First Bank, St. Petersburg, Florida
At its simplest, Design Build means one integrated team is responsible for both design and construction. But in practice, it’s much more than combining services under one contract. It changes the way projects are delivered. Instead of architects completing a design before a contractor joins the conversation, everyone works together from the very beginning. Owners, architects, engineers, estimators, construction professionals, and specialty partners collaborate as a single team, evaluating ideas together rather than handing projects from one phase to the next.
That collaboration allows important conversations to happen earlier. Can this design be built more efficiently? Is there another material that performs better over the life of the building? How will a design decision affect the construction schedule six months from now? Can a change reduce maintenance costs for the next twenty years?
Rather than discovering these questions during construction, they’re answered while the project is still taking shape. For owners, that means greater transparency, more informed decision making, and fewer surprises along the way. Every owner begins a project with different priorities. Some are focused on speed. Others need to maximize limited budgets. Many want flexibility as their needs evolve throughout design.
Increasingly, owners are also looking beyond construction to consider long-term operations, sustainability, resilience, and the overall life cycle of their buildings. Design Build creates an environment where all of those priorities can be discussed simultaneously rather than one at a time. Because builders are involved throughout design, construction expertise becomes part of every conversation. Designers receive immediate feedback on constructability. Owners understand the budget implications of decisions before they’re finalized. Potential challenges are identified earlier, when adjustments are easier and less costly to make.
Technology also plays an important role. Using Building Information Modeling (BIM), three-dimensional visualization, and real-time estimating, integrated teams can evaluate design options, coordinate building systems, and measure how changes affect schedule and cost before construction begins. The result isn’t simply a more efficient project. It’s a more informed one.
Show Here: City of Bunnell Police Complex
For more than 40 years, The Collage Companies has embraced this collaborative approach across municipal, commercial, education, nonprofit, healthcare, hospitality, and adaptive reuse projects, helping owners navigate complex decisions while creating buildings designed to serve their communities for decades.
Recognizing Design Build Excellence
Projects that successfully demonstrate these principles are recognized each year by the Design-Build Institute of America (DBIA), the nation’s leading organization dedicated exclusively to advancing Design Build project delivery.
Founded in 1993, DBIA brings together owners, architects, engineers, contractors, and construction professionals around a shared commitment to collaboration, innovation, and best practices. Through education, professional certification, and its nationally recognized Design-Build Done Right® framework, the organization has helped transform Design Build from an alternative delivery method into one of the industry’s fastest-growing approaches.
Show Here: The Collage Companies Team receiving the award at the 2026 DBIA Florida Design Build Conference
This year, The Collage Companies submitted two very different projects for consideration in the Florida Region DBIA Project Awards: the City of Bunnell Administration & Police Complex and Climate First Bank Headquarters Renovation. While each project served a unique purpose and presented its own set of challenges, both demonstrate how collaboration, transparency, and an integrated Design Build approach can lead to stronger outcomes for owners and the communities they serve.
The City of Bunnell was honored with an Award of Merit. All projects were recognized during the 2026 DBIA Florida Design-Build Conference, held June 15–17 at the Hilton Orlando Bonnet Creek. Celebrating the 25th Anniversary of the DBIA Florida Region, the annual conference brought together owners, architects, engineers, contractors, and industry leaders from across Florida for three days of educational sessions, networking, and collaboration focused on advancing Design Build best practices. The conference’s Design-Build Project Awards Luncheon honored outstanding projects and individuals whose work exemplifies innovation, teamwork, and excellence in integrated project delivery.
Whether constructing a new city hall, transforming a bank headquarters, or helping organizations adapt existing spaces for future needs, the most successful projects share one common foundation: collaboration from day one. Design Build is more than a delivery method. It is a mindset that brings the right people together at the right time to solve challenges, maximize value, and create lasting results. As Design Build continues to shape the future of the construction industry, projects like these demonstrate that when owners and project teams work as one, they can achieve outcomes that extend far beyond the building itself, creating stronger organizations, stronger communities, and places built to serve generations to come.