by Russell Boniface
Associate Editor

Summary: Omaha-based Leo A Daly worked with the General Services Administration (GSA) via the GSA Design Excellence program—to create the new U.S. District Courthouse in Newport News, Va. At a cost of $14.5 million, the four-story courthouse, opened last month, will house one district courtroom and one magistrate courtroom. The project team, which also included the owner, Indianapolis-based Scannell Properties, and general contractor Kiewit Building Group, has applied for LEED® certification for the new courthouse. Brick and precast concrete on the 38,000-square-foot building’s exterior maintain the look of the brick-and-stone load-bearing structures of the historic public buildings in Newport News.

How do you . . . design a U.S. District Courthouse on a tight site that combines security, open circulation, sustainability, and modern materials that respect architectural tradition?

The district and magistrate courtrooms occupy the upper two floors of the District Courthouse, along with adjacent judges’ chambers and jury rooms and offices for the clerk staff, U.S. Marshals Service, and U.S. Attorney’s office. Isolated holding areas contain prisoners, and a two-story lobby provides public circulation.

Mock-up court of appeal
Security, LEED credits, and the three sets of design guidelines all shaped the architect’s work. The design ball was in the court of Leo A Daly Project Manager Ryan Horner, AIA. “From the beginning, we worked hand-in-hand with the owner and contractor to create a great product for GSA. The contractors were supportive in helping us earn LEED credits,” he says. Horner adds that the GSA has its own requirements for siting, architecture, mechanical, electrical, security, and courtroom design. In addition, the U.S. Courts and the U.S. Marshals Service each have their own design guidelines. “With all these different guides, the first step was to put the pieces of the puzzle together,” he says. Adding to the puzzle was a compact site provided by GSA.

The team created a full-scale courtroom mock-up inside a warehouse. “There were no finishes, but we used drywall partitions to create the witness stand, jury box, and the judge’s stand. It was all built out. Then, the judges came in and said, ‘I need to have this changed,’ so the contractor would make changes. Then, the judges came back and said, ‘this looks good, but maybe you can tweak this.’ This two-step process was helpful and a benefit to the project cost. It came down to two courtroom layouts—the district and the magistrate—particular to each judge. For example, sightlines to the witness box are what each judge thought was appropriate.”

Circulation patterns; heightened security; urban texture
The limited site dictated compact, vertical solutions for circulation patterns for the public, judges, and staff. Prisoner movement also had to be isolated, so building security was paramount. “The security is broken into three areas. The first is the separation of circulation among prisoners, judges, and the public. Those groups don’t pass each other in the building. That’s important because obviously the U.S. Marshals Service doesn’t want a prisoner to have access to a judge or the public. The judges have private entrances through an elevator to their chambers. The public has its own public elevators and specific circulation zone. The prisoner movement is on the opposite side of the building, including a specified prisoner elevator to the cell block,” Horner explains.

“Second, there is a 50-foot security setback at the perimeter of the building. The space will become an urban park. The third portion is the site security. There is a gated entry for the judges and U.S. Marshals Service, secure parking area, and secure perimeter. We don’t want vehicles running into the building, so it has been designed with security setbacks of a retaining earth wall protecting the building from vehicle access. The building itself is designed for the standards of progressive collapse and blast design in the event of a terrorist act.”

The exterior of the building combines brick, pre-cast concrete, punched windows, and glass for a modern, secure look within a historic regional context. “The precast façade fits within the buildings in Newport News and is juxtaposed with the brick of urban buildings dating to 1900. The brick adds character and texture, and the precast forms project the courthouse as modern and strong. Each material capitalizes on its strength.” Glass in the upper-level public waiting spaces is set back behind a precast grid and overhang for shade. “The west façade opens to the James River on the upper stories,” Horner points out. “There are some great views. The judges also have great views from their chambers.”

The interior of the building includes jury rooms with a high sound transmission class rating and offer visual as well as acoustic privacy. Cell blocks are composed of glazed blocks. “They have the ability to withstand day-to-day use and meet the U.S. Marshals Service’s standards,” Horner notes.

The verdict: Green
The project is currently pursuing LEED certification. “We capitalized on it being a previously developed, urban site. The Chesapeake Bay region watershed has stringent standards for water retention, so that entered into our own water-efficiency design,” Horner says. Sustainable design elements include recycled and regional materials, low VOC and reflective paints and coatings, a hydronic heating system, air-cooled condensing units, and VAV air-handling units. “I think we hit the mark pretty well with the GSA, the U.S. Courts, and the U.S. Marshals to provide an image that projects courts in a positive way,” Horner concludes.