Completed in 1932, the Potter County Courthouse is recognized as one of the most significant high-rise Art Deco courthouses in Texas, and among the most prominent in the country. Local architect W.C. Townes, of Townes, Lightfoot and Funk, designed the eight-story structure with a terra cotta fac?ade adorned in decorative figural and botanical bas-relief depicting the region’s cultural and natural history.
After more than 80 years of use, the courthouse was long overdue for an interior modernization and exterior restoration. The $15.5 million effort was undertaken as part of the Texas Historic Courthouse Preservation Program, a state-funded program that covered about one-third of the project’s cost. It included a complete fac?ade restoration—including repairing and re-anchoring damaged units and replacing mortar joints—and an overhaul of the interior spaces to meet current building and accessibility codes and the operational and functional needs of the county’s administrative offices and courts.
The original mechanical systems were replaced with a four-pipe scheme utilizing a 200-ton chiller and 250-ton cooling tower. An additional 60-ton, air-cooled chiller was placed on the roof, and 12 air-handling units were located on the various roofs at the fifth, sixth, and eighth floors. The new system, combined with automatic controls and enhanced thermal roof insulation, is expected to reduce energy costs by 20% annually.
POTTER COUNTY COURTHOUSE
Amarillo, TexasBuilding TeamSubmitting firm: JQ (structural engineer)Owner: Potter CountyArchitect: ArchiTexasMEP engineer: Johnson Consulting EngineersConstruction manager: Southwest General ContractorsGeneral contractor: Journeyman ConstructionGeneral InformationSize: 62,390 sfConstruction cost: $15.5 millionConstruction time: November 2009 to August 2012Delivery method: Design-bid-build
The Reconstruction Awards judges hailed the Building Team for its painstaking efforts in preserving the historical elements of the building while modernizing the structure. To accommodate the new mechanical systems and other modern amenities, such as fire/life safety systems, information technology infrastructure, and high-density shelving units, the team devised several creative structural solutions:
• Tunnel expansion. To preserve the courthouse’s original, first-floor terrazzo floors, the team utilized the facility’s underfloor utility tunnels to run new insulated piping. Deemed inadequate to handle the new systems, the existing tunnels had to be carefully reinforced and expanded. In total, more than 200 feet of concrete- and masonry-lined tunnel was added on to the existing layout, allowing for the terrazzo flooring to remain intact.
• Clay tile floor removal. The added weight of the rooftop mechanical units and high-density shelving meant that certain areas of the existing structure on floors two through six would need to be reinforced. However, because the plaster ceiling finish was applied directly to the original clay tile and reinforced concrete joist floor system, structural members could not be inserted below the original ceiling level.
The solution involved removing portions of the original clay tile forms to allow the installation of new steel beams constructed from steel T-sections between the existing concrete joists, thereby increasing the floor load capacity. The use of T-sections in lieu of standard wide-flange sections facilitated access for completion of field connections to the existing structure and the placement of non-shrink grout between the top of the steel members and the underside of the original floor slab to provide full load transfer.
• Use of CFRP strips. In order to accommodate new stairs, vertical chases, and mechanical infrastructure, numerous openings of various sizes had to be cut into the slab on floors seven and eight. The original floor structure on these levels is eight-inch reinforced concrete slabs spanning the concrete beams.
To maintain the structural integrity and continuity of the floor slabs, strips of laminated, 1?4-inch-thick carbon fiber reinforcement polymer (CFRP) were used to redistribute the loads adjacent to and around the openings. Larger openings for the stairs and chases called for additional reinforcement, and CFRP strips were placed on top or below the slab, corresponding to the tension zone of the slab system.
In several locations, strips were placed in both directions around the openings to properly distribute the load.
“We liked how the team carefully pre- served the clay-tile floor and the reinforced concrete slab with the strengthening schemes hidden out of sight,” said judge K. Nam Shiu, Senior VP, Director of Restoration Services, Walker Restoration Consultants (www.walkerrestoration.com). “They successfully provided up-to-date floor functionality while keeping the layout and look of the original building.”
The Building Team took careful measures to avoid disturbing the historical elements in the building. This included expanding an existing utility tunnel (above) and applying special structural reinforcement polymer to select concrete frame members (top). Photo: Brenda Bagot
Related Stories
| Feb 11, 2011
RS Means Cost Comparison Chart: Office Buildings
This month's RS Means Cost Comparison Chart focuses on office building construction.
| Feb 11, 2011
Sustainable features on the bill for dual-building performing arts center at Soka University of America
The $73 million Soka University of America’s new performing arts center and academic complex recently opened on the school’s Aliso Viejo, Calif., campus. McCarthy Building Companies and Zimmer Gunsul Frasca Architects collaborated on the two-building project. One is a three-story, 47,836-sf facility with a grand reception lobby, a 1,200-seat auditorium, and supports spaces. The other is a four-story, 48,974-sf facility with 11 classrooms, 29 faculty offices, a 150-seat black box theater, rehearsal/dance studio, and support spaces. The project, which has a green roof, solar panels, operable windows, and sun-shading devices, is going for LEED Silver.
| Feb 11, 2011
BIM-enabled Texas church complex can broadcast services in high-def
After two years of design and construction, members of the Gateway Church in Southland, Texas, were able to attend services in their new 4,000-seat facility in late 2010. Located on a 180-acre site, the 205,000-sf complex has six auditoriums, including a massive 200,000-sf Worship Center, complete with catwalks, top-end audio and video system, and high-definition broadcast capabilities. BIM played a significant role in the building’s design and construction. Balfour Beatty Construction and Beck Architecture formed the nucleus of the Building Team.
| Feb 11, 2011
Kentucky’s first green adaptive reuse project earns Platinum
(FER) studio, Inglewood, Calif., converted a 115-year-old former dry goods store in Louisville, Ky., into a 10,175-sf mixed-use commercial building earned LEED Platinum and holds the distinction of being the state’s first adaptive reuse project to earn any LEED rating. The facility, located in the East Market District, houses a gallery, event space, offices, conference space, and a restaurant. Sustainable elements that helped the building reach its top LEED rating include xeriscaping, a green roof, rainwater collection and reuse, 12 geothermal wells, 81 solar panels, a 1,100-gallon ice storage system (off-grid energy efficiency is 68%) and the reuse and recycling of construction materials. Local firm Peters Construction served as GC.
| Feb 11, 2011
Former Richardson Romanesque hotel now houses books, not beds
The Piqua (Ohio) Public Library was once a late 19th-century hotel that sat vacant and deteriorating for years before a $12.3 million adaptive reuse project revitalized the 1891 building. The design team of PSA-Dewberry, MKC Associates, and historic preservation specialist Jeff Wray Associates collaborated on the restoration of the 80,000-sf Richardson Romanesque building, once known as the Fort Piqua Hotel. The team restored a mezzanine above the lobby and repaired historic windows, skylight, massive fireplace, and other historic details. The basement, with its low ceiling and stacked stone walls, was turned into a castle-like children’s center. The Piqua Historical Museum is also located within the building.
| Feb 11, 2011
Justice center on Fall River harbor serves up daylight, sustainable elements, including eucalyptus millwork
Located on historic South Main Street in Fall River, Mass., the Fall River Justice Center opened last fall to serve as the city’s Superior and District Courts building. The $85 million facility was designed by Boston-based Finegold Alexander + Associates Inc., with Dimeo Construction as CM and Arup as MEP. The 154,000-sf courthouse contains nine courtrooms, a law library, and a detention area. Most of the floors have the same ceiling height, which will makes them easier to reconfigure in the future as space needs change. Designed to achieve LEED Silver, the facility’s elliptical design offers abundant natural daylight and views of the harbor. Renewable eucalyptus millwork is one of the sustainable features.
| Feb 11, 2011
Research facility separates but also connects lab spaces
California State University, Northridge, consolidated its graduate and undergraduate biology and mathematics programs into one 90,000-sf research facility. Architect of record Cannon Design worked on the new Chaparral Hall, creating a four-story facility with two distinct spaces that separate research and teaching areas; these are linked by faculty offices to create collaborative spaces. The building houses wet research, teaching, and computational research labs, a 5,000-sf vivarium, classrooms, and administrative offices. A four-story outdoor lobby and plaza and an outdoor staircase provide orientation. A covered walkway links the new facility with the existing science complex. Saiful/Bouquet served as structural engineer, Bard, Rao + Athanas Consulting Engineers served as MEP, and Research Facilities Design was laboratory consultant.
| Feb 11, 2011
A feast of dining options at University of Colorado community center, but hold the buffalo stew
The University of Colorado, Boulder, cooked up something different with its new $84.4 million Center for Community building, whose 900-seat foodservice area consists of 12 micro-restaurants, each with its own food options and décor. Centerbrook Architects of Connecticut collaborated with Denver’s Davis Partnership Architects and foodservice designer Baker Group of Grand Rapids, Mich., on the 323,000-sf facility, which also includes space for a career center, international education, and counseling and psychological services. Exterior walls of rough-hewn, variegated sandstone and a terra cotta roof help the new facility blend with existing campus buildings. Target: LEED Gold.
| Feb 11, 2011
Chicago high-rise mixes condos with classrooms for Art Institute students
The Legacy at Millennium Park is a 72-story, mixed-use complex that rises high above Chicago’s Michigan Avenue. The glass tower, designed by Solomon Cordwell Buenz, is mostly residential, but also includes 41,000 sf of classroom space for the School of the Art Institute of Chicago and another 7,400 sf of retail space. The building’s 355 one-, two-, three-, and four-bedroom condominiums range from 875 sf to 9,300 sf, and there are seven levels of parking. Sky patios on the 15th, 42nd, and 60th floors give owners outdoor access and views of Lake Michigan.
| Feb 11, 2011
Iowa surgery center addresses both inpatient and outpatient care
The 12,000-person community of Carroll, Iowa, has a new $28 million surgery center to provide both inpatient and outpatient care. Minneapolis-based healthcare design firm Horty Elving headed up the four-story, 120,000-sf project for St. Anthony’s Regional Hospital. The center’s layout is based on a circular process flow, and includes four 800-sf operating rooms with poured rubber floors to reduce leg fatigue for surgeons and support staff, two substerile rooms between each pair of operating rooms, and two endoscopy rooms adjacent to the outpatient prep and recovery rooms. Recovery rooms are clustered in groups of four. The large family lounge (left) has expansive windows with views of the countryside, and television monitors that display coded information on patient status so loved ones can follow a patient’s progress.
