Noting trends of interaction with the communities they serve, an increasing interest in sustainable design, and a shift toward facilities that acknowledge the role of “electronic paperwork, the 2005 AIA Justice Facilities Review jury of architects and law enforcement and judicial officials selected five outstanding projects for citation and another 42 to be published in this year’s Review. The jury indicated that they were impressed with the overall quality of the projects submitted and awarded five citations to projects that achieved the highest level of success. They noted also that the number of LEED™-certified projects increased significantly this year.

Current trends in law enforcement facility design continue to address the notion that police and sheriff facilities are becoming more interactive within their communities, grappling with these facilities’ need for security and secure and separate circulation patterns. Regarding courthouse design, juror Markus Zimmer noted, “Court systems on the state and federal levels throughout the United States are in the midst of a fundamental transition in how they conduct their business—from paper-based to electronic case files. This transition has important implications for how administrative space is allocated and designed.” Zimmer notes that consequently focus will shift from external to internal space, and architects will need to consider carefully how to uphold the image of justice facilities.

Citations

Pierre Elliott Trudeau Judicial Building, Ottawa, by NORR Limited, Architects and Engineers, with design architect Carlos Ott and associate architect Edmundson Matthews Architects, for Public Works 7 Government Services Canada
This beautifully presented project . . . respects the scale, massing, materials, and degree of detail articulation exhibited by the older buildings nearby, while simultaneously expressing a modern look and feel, noted the jury. The administrative headquarters for the Federal Court, the Tax Court of Canada, the Federal Court of Appeal, and the Court Martial Appeal Court contains 10 courtrooms, the national registry, courts administration, library, 87 judges’ chambers, and below-grade parking. It completes St. Laurent Square as the final missing component of the judicial triad of buildings and acknowledges the primacy of the Supreme Court of Canada through balance in height and massing with the Justice Building across the square. Major stone walls, copper roof, and tower elements are composed in similar position, height, and scale but rendered in a contemporary manner. Internally the building is organized around two stacked atriums. Renderings courtesy of the architect.

San Carlos Juvenile and Adult Detention Center, San Carlos, Ariz., by DLR Group for the San Carlos Apache Tribe
Combining juvenile and adult populations within this one structure with a limited staff allowed the architects to work with a limited budget and still take advantage of such shared services as visitation, food services, main control, and administration. The facility, designed to provide strict sight and sound separation between the adult and juvenile populations, places special emphasis on helping integrate offenders back into the community by providing extensive programming and educational opportunities. Cultural and traditional values important to the local Apache tribe were incorporated, such as placement of the public entrance to honor the Apache custom of entering from the east. A rounded shade canopy, inspired by traditional Apache wikiup structures, orients to the four points of the compass. “A sensitive and appropriate use of local natural materials, earthy colors and textures, as well as a scale appropriate to the site context of the desert resulted in a facility that is humane and harmonious to its surroundings and, therefore, conducive to rehabilitation and normalcy for the detainees,” said the jury. Photo © Marc Boisclair.

Santa Monica Public-Safety Building, Santa Monica, Calif., by Cannon Design with associate architect Killefer Flammang Architects
This new 182,000-square-foot, four-story public-safety building, located in the civic center, houses the police headquarters and fire department’s administrative offices, multipurpose emergency operations center, community room, jail facilities, 911 communication system, coordinated dispatch center, firing range, crime lab, and secure subterranean parking spaces for 100 official vehicles. Restrictions of height and complex topography dictated that two of the six levels be placed below grade. The high priority given to sustainability earned the building a LEED silver rating. Computer-controlled lighting adjusts to the levels of natural light and user activity, while windows and a skylighted three-story atrium combine to bring in an abundance of natural light. The complex is designed to integrate into a vibrant civic center in a way that reinforces pedestrian paths and creates outdoor places for employees and the public. “The project’s massing and architectural execution display a timeless building concept and are an appropriate completion to the civic center,” the jury concluded. Photo ©Farshid Assassi.

Tempe Police Main Building Security Entry, by Gould Evans Associates for the City of Tempe, Ariz.
“The transparency and openness of the façade is a symbol to the community in the best spirit of community policing and justice,” said the jury of this single-point-of-entry lobby addition that conveys a new “front door” image for the city’s main police and courts complex. The new skin, composed of a point-supported, bullet-resistant structural glazing system, provides maximum security while promoting the civic role of the complex in a transparent, user-friendly manner. Using the principles of crime prevention through environmental design, the design solution serves three purposes: reconnecting the three floors of the police and three floors of the courts building interior to the new exterior pedestrian plaza (which also promotes passive surveillance of the site), providing a safe and secure single point of entry for users, and providing a multi-tiered security buffer for the building complex. Photography by Matt Winquist and Bill Timmerman.

U.S. Courthouse, Seattle, by NBBJ, for the U.S. General Services Administration
The architect tells us that this 23-story, 615,000-square-foot facility is designed to endure as an “icon of democracy and civic stability for at least 200 years.” Encompassing a full block in the city’s downtown office core, it will house the U.S. District Court, Western Division of Washington, including 13 district courtrooms; 5 bankruptcy courtrooms; 22 judicial chambers suites; and facilities for the district clerk, bankruptcy clerk, U.S. attorney, and various court-related agencies. The new facility has three primary components: courtroom tower, symbolizing the strength of the federal judicial process; judicial chambers; and office courtroom tower. The integration of the building’s ground plane into the urban fabric embraces the city’s movement and urbanity, yielding a “successful and unexpected place of welcomed repose.” The jury agreed that the ground plane “is developed as an inviting plaza with subtly modulated level changes and skillful patterning and landscaping with integrated signage.” Photo © Frank Ooms.

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