flexiblefullpage
billboard
interstitial1
catfish1
Currently Reading

New courthouse blossoms into a civic space for one California town

Justice Facilities

New courthouse blossoms into a civic space for one California town

The building's canopy suggests classical courthouse features of front porch and portico. It also helps connect the building with a public plaza that has re-centered civic activity and public gathering for the town.


By John Caulfield, Senior Editor | March 5, 2015
New courthouse blossoms into a civic space for one California town

The site in Hollister, Calif., on which the Superior Court for San Benito County was built is tight. Project architect SmithGroupJJR expanded the sense of openness in the 41,500-sf building’s interior space by borrowing visual interest from its exterior exposures. All public circulation and staff corridors and ramps have direct views onto outdoor areas, which include a plaza and roof rock gardens. The technique is based on a concept used in traditional Japanese gardens. Photo: Bruce Damonte, courtesy SmithGroupJJR

This article first appeared in the March 2015 issue of BD+C.

The Superior Court of California used to operate its courthouse for San Benito County from an aging building in the county seat of Hollister. That building’s myriad inadequacies included allowing visitors and inmates to enter through the same door—a security nightmare.

In 2009, SmithGroupJJR won its bid to design a new courthouse that would provide a sense of place that Hollister lacked. What the design firm came up with was a 41,500-sf building on two floors that, since opening a year ago, has established itself as a true civic center.

This $29.4 million project was funded through a bond issue approved by voters to build or renovate 44 courthouses across the state.

The client, the Administrative Office of the Court, wanted a cost-efficient building that would offer a comfortable and safe environment for courthouse staff and the public. “However, they didn’t want a fortress,” says project designer Hiroko Miyake, JIA, LEED AP BD+C, a Principal with SmithGroupJJR. “They wanted something that could be seen as being part of the community.”

 

Photo: Bruce Damonte, courtesy SmithGroupJJR

 

The building is organized in a simple rectangular form with linear arrangements of its three courtrooms for civil, criminal, and family and juvenile law. (A jury assembly room can be converted to a fourth courtroom.) 

The space available for this building—which sits on a site previously used for a school—was tight. One solution was to install larger interior and exterior windows to create vistas, says SmithGroupJJR Vice President Suzanne Napier, AIA, LEED AP BD+C. “We utilized psychological effect to expand the interior space by borrowing exterior views,” she says. This is not unlike the Shakkukei technique used in traditional Japanese gardens.

The courthouse’s open circulation plan lets in lots of natural light, but is also shaded by a cantilevered patterned canopy that wraps around three sides of the building. The canopy suggests classical courthouse features of front porch and portico. It also helps connect the building with a public plaza that has “re-centered civic activity and public gathering for the town,” says Napier.

Hollister lies within a thousand feet of two earthquake fault lines. The courthouse’s foundation and structural design incorporated seismic recommendations that incorporate a buckling-resistant, braced-frame-and-steel structure and steel-deck-filled concrete slabs. Ultra-high-performance concrete panels—lightweight, thin, durable—were used as the building’s primary exterior skin material.

The Building Team (in addition to SmithGroupJJR): Rutherford & Chekene (SE), BKF Engineers (CE), Gayner Engineers (MEP), Cliff Lowe Associates (landscape design), Jay Farbstein Associates (courtroom planner), BKF Interface Engineering (lighting consultant); TEECOM (AV, security, telecommunications), Kate Keating Associates (signage/graphics), and Kitchell CEM (GC).

Related Stories

| Nov 19, 2013

Top 10 green building products for 2014

Assa Abloy's power-over-ethernet access-control locks and Schüco's retrofit façade system are among the products to make BuildingGreen Inc.'s annual Top-10 Green Building Products list. 

| Nov 15, 2013

Greenbuild 2013 Report - BD+C Exclusive

The BD+C editorial team brings you this special report on the latest green building trends across nine key market sectors. 

| Nov 15, 2013

Metal makes its mark on interior spaces

Beyond its long-standing role as a preferred material for a building’s structure and roof, metal is making its mark on interior spaces as well. 

| Nov 13, 2013

Government work keeps green AEC firms busy

With the economy picking up, many stalled government contracts are reaching completion and earning their green credentials.

| Nov 13, 2013

Installed capacity of geothermal heat pumps to grow by 150% by 2020, says study

The worldwide installed capacity of GHP systems will reach 127.4 gigawatts-thermal over the next seven years, growth of nearly 150%, according to a recent report from Navigant Research.

| Oct 30, 2013

11 hot BIM/VDC topics for 2013

If you like to geek out on building information modeling and virtual design and construction, you should enjoy this overview of the top BIM/VDC topics.

| Oct 28, 2013

Urban growth doesn’t have to destroy nature—it can work with it

Our collective desire to live in cities has never been stronger. According to the World Health Organization, 60% of the world’s population will live in a city by 2030. As urban populations swell, what people demand from their cities is evolving.

| Oct 18, 2013

Researchers discover tension-fusing properties of metal

When a group of MIT researchers recently discovered that stress can cause metal alloy to fuse rather than break apart, they assumed it must be a mistake. It wasn't. The surprising finding could lead to self-healing materials that repair early damage before it has a chance to spread. 

| Oct 15, 2013

High-rise Art Deco courthouse gets a makeover in Amarillo, Texas

Recognized as one of the most significant Art Deco courthouses in Texas, the Potter County Courthouse is modernized and restored to its 1930s aesthetic. 

| Sep 24, 2013

8 grand green roofs (and walls)

A dramatic interior green wall at Drexel University and a massive, 4.4-acre vegetated roof at the Kauffman Performing Arts Center in Kansas City are among the projects honored in the 2013 Green Roof and Wall Awards of Excellence. 

boombox1
boombox2
native1

More In Category

Giants 400

Top 50 Justice Facility Construction Firms for 2023

Turner Construction, Whiting-Turner, STO Building Group, Clark Group, and CORE Construction top BD+C's ranking of the nation's largest justice facility general contractors and construction management (CM) firms for 2023, as reported in the 2023 Giants 400 Report. Note: This ranking includes revenue from all public safety/justice facilities buildings work, including correctional facilities, fire stations, jails, police stations, and prisons.  


Giants 400

Top 60 Justice Facility Engineering Firms for 2023

EXP, AECOM, IMEG, Dewberry, and Tetra Tech head BD+C's ranking of the nation's largest justice facility engineering and engineering architecture (EA) firms for 2023, as reported in the 2023 Giants 400 Report. Note: This ranking includes revenue from all public safety/justice facilities buildings work, including correctional facilities, fire stations, jails, police stations, and prisons.  


Giants 400

Top 90 Justice Facility Architecture Firms for 2023

DLR Group, Stantec, HDR, HOK, and Elevatus Architecture top BD+C's ranking of the nation's largest justice facility architecture and architecture engineering (AE) firms for 2023, as reported in the 2023 Giants 400 Report. Note: This ranking includes revenue from all public safety/justice facilities buildings work, including correctional facilities, fire stations, jails, police stations, and prisons. 


Giants 400

Top 115 Architecture Engineering Firms for 2023

Stantec, HDR, Page, HOK, and Arcadis North America top the rankings of the nation's largest architecture engineering (AE) firms for nonresidential building and multifamily housing work, as reported in Building Design+Construction's 2023 Giants 400 Report.

halfpage1

Most Popular Content

  1. 2021 Giants 400 Report
  2. Top 150 Architecture Firms for 2019
  3. 13 projects that represent the future of affordable housing
  4. Sagrada Familia completion date pushed back due to coronavirus
  5. Top 160 Architecture Firms 2021