Firm： Fisher Heck Architects

Type： Government + Health › Aging Facility Court/Post Office

STATUS： Built

YEAR： 2015

SIZE： 10,000 sqft - 25,000 sqft

BUDGET： $5M - 10M

What was once two separate courtrooms with adjacent support offices and an intermediate floor separating the two, is now a grand two-story Commissioners Courtroom, restored to its original 1896 creation. In addition to the courtroom restoration, a new stairwell spanning five floors within the courthouse was designed to bring the building up to code. One of the challenging requirements to this courtroom is that it had to serve multiple uses in order to make the room more accommodating throughout the year.

This courtroom primarily serves as the Commissioner's Courtroom, but can also accommodate high-profile trials as well as private social events and banquets. To accomplish this, all the furniture in the room, minus the Judge's Bench and balcony seating, was designed to be removable and stored in a nearby storage room. The Judge's Bench floors are also operable and can be electronically raised and lowered depending on the occurring event.

The design also incorporates many sustainable features as well. Due to a lack of plenum space and masonry perimeter walls, an energy efficient variable refrigerant flow system was designed into the balcony structure and provides the entire room's heating and cooling needs. All the lighting in the room is LED and programmable with manual controls. Lastly, the flooring in the room is reclaimed pine, originating from structural beams at an adjacent construction site a couple blocks away.