Grandpa taught dad and dad taught son.
That’s the lineage that led to the creation of Walker Design & Construction Co., a design-build, turn-key contractor based in Boca Raton, Fla., that has managed to find its niche in a tough economy.
“I went to work for my father right out of college,” said Lee Walker, the current owner, whose grandfather taught his father, who became a general contractor. “As I worked for him for 10 to 15 years, I got the opportunity to get involved in steel construction and picked up the franchise for Butler Manufacturing pre-engineered metal buildings in the 1980s.”
In the late 1980s, Walker bought the assets of his father’s company and changed the name to Walker Design & Construction.
“Our philosophy was to distinguish ourselves,” Walker said. “Since I’d gotten involved with pre-engineered metal buildings, most of our work was being aligned through the design-build process. An owner or client came to us with an idea or a dream or a piece of property; we took them through land acquisition, plan approval, construction and then handed them the keys.”
The company has a broad list of projects to its credit, including fire stations, municipal buildings, retail centers, car showrooms and others.
Today Walker Design & Construction has approximately 35 employees and remains a Butler Builder for Butler Manufacturing, Kansas City, Mo. The company has also delved into niche areas that have provided a steady stream of work and given Walker a sense of pride in what he’s been able to accomplish.
Covered Walkways
“From being involved with steel construction, I got pretty heavily involved with re-roofing in the 80s and 90s. From that, our local school boards saw what we could do and we ended up doing 44 schools for Palm Beach County,” Walker said, explaining what would be his entree into the aluminum canopy business, a specialized part of his operation that has paid great dividends.
“When you have schools up north, they’ll just build a big two or three-story building. Down here in Florida, because of the diversification and population changes, we have these sprawled out campuses, and we connect them with these walkway covers,” Walker said.
Partnering with Aluminum Solutions Group, Boca Raton, Walker Design & Construction developed a patented covered walkway system that was portable and could be moved to different campuses when there was a need. In Florida, due to changing demographics, it’s fairly common for a school to take on hundreds of extra students, necessitating portable classrooms.
In recent years, Florida experienced rapid population growth resulting in growing school populations. The larger student bodies were accommodated by adding these portable classrooms. The aluminum covered walkways protect students going from class to class or to lunch from lightening, rain and sun exposure.
The canopy structures and supports, manufactured in Walker’s plant, are architecturally pleasing, as well as capable of sustaining concentrated loads, severe hail and hurricane winds up to 150 mph. The other major benefit is that if a school’s population shrinks, these walkways and support systems can be removed and re-located to other schools that have increasing student counts.
The versatility, portability and durability of the canopies have saved the schools a good deal of money. Walker Design & Construction has been working with Palm Beach and Broward counties for 20 years. It seems to be the company’s efficiency and professionalism that have maintained the relationship.
“We have to work around the students, doing it in little pieces very carefully,” Walker said. “We have to go unnoticed. We’re right there in the middle of things. We can’t be disruptive in the middle of the bus pickup or the parent pickup.”
Building God’s Way
One of Walker’s passions is trying to help church congregations build affordable Christian schools and churches. To that end, he got Florida design-build contractor distinguishes itself with covered walkways, churches involved with Building God’s Way, a national organization that assists in the design and construction of churches.
“We use steel construction, pre-engineered structures, and through our design process and through this delivery system we’ve been very successful. There’s 40 builders nationally,” Walker said. “We have a supply chain, national accounts with over 100 major manufacturers that supply products that we get at national account pricing. We’re able to save churches and Christian schools 20 to 30 percent with this delivery system.”
The Building God’s Way delivery system also advises congregations on fundraising strategies, financial management, banking relationships and the formation of construction ministries. Walker Design & Construction has built more than 20 churches.
“God is in the center of this relationship among the architect and the contractor and the church,” Walker said.
Not Your Average GC
Walker Design & Construction has managed to build on its initial philosophy of being a distinct type of company, and this has been key to its survival and success in a bad economy. Between its use of pre-engineered metal building systems, the diversity of its aluminum walkway canopies—they’ve been used at drive-up restaurants and car rental agencies, for example, along with schools—and its involvement in church building, the third generation contractor has been able to stand out as more than just another general contractor.
“We’re proud of everything that we do,” Walker said. “Right now we’re in for permits for a nice new church in the Miami area. We’re finishing up about $10 million of work for Palm Beach County Schools. And we have several other projects on the horizon.”
