PGAL: Justice + Judicial Design

JUSTICE + JUDICIAL DESIGN

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OUR FIRM Founded in 1946, PGAL has become a prominent resource in the justice and judicial design market. Courthouses create community anchors, both physically and symbolically. These iconic public buildings are complex by their very nature, providing ease of general public access while ensuring stringent technical and security requirements. Having provided planning, programming, design, and construction phase services for more than five million square feet of courthouse space across the country, PGAL understands the critical design elements that set judicial design apart from other public works.

PGAL has a diverse and extensive portfolio of justice and judicial projects. We have worked at all levels of government – local, regional, state, and federal – and understand the countless considerations required to ensure an efficient and secure project.

Our unique approach is highly collaborative and molded to each client and project.

HARRIS COUNTY 1910 COURTHOUSE RENOVATION location: houston, texas Listed on the National Register of Historic Places, the Harris County 1910 Courthouse is the cornerstone of Houston’s downtown judicial campus. This 162,360-square-foot, six-story Palladian-style domed courthouse is considered one of the most significant judicial buildings in Texas.

The restoration process began with painstaking research, which revealed that most of the courthouse’s historic features were removed during an early restoration in 1950.

To uncover the original structure, these changes would have to be reversed.

PGAL designed a significant construction program to renovate both the building’s interior and exterior, addressing the mid-century alterations and widespread contaminants.

The First and Fourteenth Courts of Appeals include accurate replicas of the public bench and the Judge’s Bench, using exact wood specifications plus updated technology and infrastructure for today’s judicial needs. In keeping with this spirit of updated authenticity, the project integrates energy efficiency and sustainable building enhancements.

CITY OF FRISCO MUNICIPAL COURT ADAPTIVE RE-USE location: frisco, texas The Frisco Municipal Court is an adaptive reuse project that converted the City of Frisco’s original 17,395-squarefoot senior center building into a modern municipal court facility. It houses two courtrooms, a central jury room, judge’s suite, court clerks office and all of the City’s court administration. In addition, it consolidates all of the court’s record storage to a central filing room.

The 6,320-square-foot expansion consists of white limestone with brick to match existing facades and provides a timeless design that complements the existing downtown architecture. The double height grand lobby/waiting room and check in area includes ballistic protection for the safety and security of staff.

Abundant natural light fills the new entrance and provides a welcoming environment. The new colonnade adds a welcoming touch to complement the monumentality of the main entrance.

The interior incorporates abundant natural light into the space, with high wood ceilings in the main lobby, white and grey toned terrazzo floor tile throughout the public area and wood veneer wrapping all walls in the courtrooms.

Back-of-house interiors include a neutral toned palette with light grey carpet tile, white walls and walnut office furniture.

CITY OF LAS VEGAS MUNICIPAL COURTHOUSE location: las vegas, nevada The City of Las Vegas Municipal Court is a court of record with jurisdiction over traffic violations, criminal misdemeanor offenses, municipal code ordinance infractions and civil ordinance actions that occur within city limits. Due to the anticipated growth of both Clark County Justice Courts and Las Vegas Municipal Courts, a separate facility for the Municipal Court was needed.

Under a public/private development agreement, PGAL provided complete architectural services for the new fourstory, 138,000-square-foot courthouse building, located within the Civic and Business District in Downtown Las Vegas. Designed to visually tie with the existing Las Vegas City Hall and the Clark County Regional Justice Center,

the project site was selected due to its proximity to City Hall and the opportunity to further reinforce this area as the civic center of the City.

The new courthouse includes seven municipal courtrooms including one traffic courtroom, 16 underground parking stalls for judges, support spaces, classrooms, resource center, intake rooms, holding cells, judge’s chambers, and offices to support court administration, the city attorney, U.S. Marshals and a sally port for prisoner transportation.

ST. TAMMANY PARISH COURTHOUSE + MASTER PLAN location: covington, louisiana The St. Tammany Parish Courthouse is located just outside New Orleans on the north shore of Lake Pontchartrain in Covington, Louisiana. PGAL welcomed the challenge of designing a civic building appropriate for the town’s downtown historic district.

The 300,000-square-foot courthouse houses 14 courtrooms, as well as offices for the district attorney, sheriff, parish clerk, indigent defenders, tax assessor, and several other parish departments. Since the complex includes both governmental offices and the parish courthouse, the facility requires a high level of security while also allowing public access to certain areas.

PGAL balances these needs by segregating non-secure

functions on the first floor and controlling access to all vertical circulation behind two secure access points. This, along with the stacking of court functions, creates a highly efficient layout that accommodates the needs of the parish government and its citizens.

GENERAL SERVICES ADMINISTRATION ALTO LEE ADAMS, SR. UNITED STATES COURTHOUSE location: fort pierce, florida This striking five-story Federal Courthouse harmonizes with neighboring buildings in a historic downtown business district by combining “Old Florida” Mediterranean Revival architectural references with a careful attention to scale, preserving a small-town feel while promoting area revitalization.

Major tenants also include the United States Marshall Service, attorneys and probation. Due to a high water table, the courthouse entrance is elevated over the at-grade secure parking. A 135-foot covered porch comfortably transitions visitors and staff from the street corner to the main lobby.

LEED Gold Certified, the $42 million General Services Administration (GSA) Design Excellence project meets 10-year court and court related space needs and accommodates 30-year court expansion requirements. It includes one District and one Magistrate Courtroom, and is designed to house two additional courtrooms for future buildouts.

An 80’ x 300’ drought-resistant garden separates existing one and two story buildings from the full height of the courthouse. Stepped roof lines also helped reduce perceived massing on this tight urban site. A 110’ stretch of window wall frames the building’s four-story atrium lobby, natural light and dynamic street views.

HARRIS COUNTY CRIMINAL JUSTICE CENTER RENOVATION location: houston, texas PGAL served as planner, prime architect, interior designer, and civil engineer for the 21-story, 788,000-squarefoot project completed in 1999.The original building featured 27 district criminal courtrooms and 16 county criminal courtrooms, evidence presentation technology, and outside video feeds with shell space for 12 future courtrooms.

In 2017, PGAL was retained again by the county to implement improvement, restoration, and mitigation scope for the building as part of recovery from Hurricane Harvey and update the building to meet current operations. Completed in phases, the new scope included first floor lobby upgrades and expansion to improve and

enhance lobby circulation, security screening throughput, and triple queuing capacity, as well as a new food service area. Selected improvements to court support functions, included the relocation of the District Clerk’s Collection department and the expansion of the District Attorney’s Victim Assistance offices to facilitate public access. In addition, five new high-rise traction elevators were added to increase the overall vertical transportation capacity throughout the building.

PALM BEACH COUNTY SOUTH COUNTY COURTHOUSE EXPANSION location: delray beach, florida This expansion and renovation project includes a modern courthouse facility, as well as a parking garage for the courthouse and the adjacent library.

The 143,000-square-foot facility houses seven stateof-the-art general and specialty courtrooms, judge’s chambers, and judicial support spaces, as well as offices for the district attorney, public defender, and clerk of the court. The courthouse also includes a sally port for prisoners.

The project was highly complex given its time frame during the height of the construction boom. Unforeseen conditions, skyrocketing costs, technology desires,

and security mandates required PGAL to make priority decisions and potential changes to specifications on a daily basis. Keeping the facility fully operational during this three-year multiple phase and bid package building program required very close coordination with the client and construction manager.

HARRIS COUNTY 1200 BAKER STREET JAIL location: houston, texas This 575,000-square-foot, 4,156-bed, six-story building has a significant presence and civic stature. The complex is tied into the existing county jails and courts through a secure tunnel system and includes visitation areas on each floor. The jail includes 480 single bed cells, 96 separation cells, 1,632 multiple occupancy beds, and 1,824 dormitory beds.

1200 Baker Street Jail also features commercial kitchen and laundry facilities, a medical treatment clinic, exam rooms, MHMRA, and a 126-bed medical holding facility for males and females. Individual floors are dedicated for the female population, vocational rooms, and law library.

The facility has a 22,000-square-foot, full-service medical treatment clinic with separate wings for males and females so that basic services can be provided for the inmates. In addition to the dedicated clinical space, an adjacent housing wing provides single-cell and dormitory-style transitional medical housing for inmates in need of increased monitoring or isolation from the general population.

COLLIN COUNTY COURTHOUSE location: mckinney, texas Designed in the neo-classical architectural style, this 300,000-square-foot courthouse includes 13 courtrooms and two hearing rooms.

This two-phase courthouse design responds to a master plan also prepared by PGAL. Phase 1 houses operations for the district courts, district attorney, and clerk of courts.

Phase 2 has an additional 175,000 square feet, including 10 new courtrooms, enhanced technology in two existing courtrooms, and expansions to jury assembly, district attorney, and clerk spaces.

The courthouse features a formal entry colonnade highlighted by a glass-enclosed rotunda that provides natural light throughout the main lobby space. Prisoner holding areas are located in the lower level and lead to the courtrooms via a secure elevator bank. Long and linear in form, the four-story structure is efficient in plan and organized for the safety of judicial staff, county personnel, jurors, and visitors.

HARRIS COUNTY CIVIL COURTHOUSE location: houston, texas This award-winning courthouse design consolidates civil court functions, improving efficiency and promoting accessibility in a highly secured environment.

Harris County selected PGAL to design its 650,000-square-foot civil courts building. The 17-story facility houses 39 civil courtrooms and their supporting agencies, and includes four future courtrooms plus shell space for an additional eight. The high-rise complex complements the County Courthouse District with a classical aesthetic capped by a bronze color pre-finished metal rotunda.

PGAL creatively addressed the prominence of the building on the Downtown Houston skyline and at the street level.

The design team carefully considered the flexibility of plan, circulation and zoning, security, provisions for current and future court technology, space needs, functional adjacency, and ADA accessibility.

PGAL provided complete architectural and engineering design services for the project. The civil and site design included paving, storm sewer, sanitary sewer, water lines, sidewalks, ADA ramps, secured parking, and landscaping.

FORT BEND COUNTY JUSTICE CENTER location: richmond, texas Designed for future expansion as judicial needs grow and funding becomes available, the first phase of the Fort Bend County Justice Center includes two, four-story wings.

Two neoclassical wings flank a five-story, 85-foot high domed rotunda where all secured entry, circulation, and access takes place. The 265,000-square-foot first phase includes 17 courtrooms and an additional 10 planned at build-out, plus jury assembly and grand jury rooms. The lower level includes holding cells for 112 incarcerated adults and juveniles, with future provisions for 45 additional cells that access the courtrooms by five prisoner elevators that take them to court holding

areas on each floor, thereby isolating prisoner circulation from staff and public circulation. Phase 2 included the Courthouse Administration extension, which houses the district and county clerk offices, district attorney and bailiff’s offices, and law library, totaling approximately 100,000 square feet. Building materials include cast stone and brick veneer detailing, as well as a standing seam metal roof.

CITY OF HOUSTON/HARRIS COUNTY JOINT PROCESSING CENTER location: houston, texas The joint County/City Processing Center consolidates all Houston Police Department and Harris County Sheriff’s Office intake processing operations into one modern and efficient facility.

With three full floors, a basement level, and secure tunnel connection to other county jail facilities, the 246,000-square-foot facility serves the nation’s third largest county jail system, accepting and releasing approximately 800 to 900 individuals per day. In addition to inmate processing, the facility includes a full medical clinic, a 552-bed short-term assessment level as well as basement holding areas with a secure tunnel connecting the other county detention facilities.

PGAL designed the facility based on an open waiting concept for general processing, thus creating an efficient, normative environment for all facility users. This concept improves the flow of inbound and outbound detainees by better leveraging available staff resources and allowing officers to direct detainees to the appropriate processing areas.

Used in conjunction with enhanced areas for medical and mental health screening, diversion workstation areas were created to provide incarceration alternatives, such as the Neuropsychiatric Center or Sobering Center. These areas can expedite eligible detainees to post bond or pay fines without entering the jail area.

CITY OF BELLAIRE POLICE + MUNICIPAL COURTS location: bellaire, texas The two-story, 30,882-square-foot, LEED Certified Police and Courts Building is placed on the same footprint as the existing facility and includes a new municipal court room, jury room, court clerk and support spaces, police department, jail, and training room. The facility is designed with space and flexibility to expand and incorporate evolving technologies over the building’s long-term lifespan. It is also designed to reinforce the public safety presence of the City and its location maximizes exposure to the existing green space without compromising visibility from the main thoroughfare.

The goal for this facility was to create a lively, inviting, and active building for residents to gather for civic events and take part in civic government and business. Maximizing flexible meeting space for city staff, departments, programs, and residents to use kept costs down and minimized the square footage allowing for more green space to be preserved, designed to be divided into as many as three multipurpose spaces, or to be combined as a single open gathering space, the civic center accentuates views of the Town Square and provides the facility with transparency, safety, and security.

INDIAN RIVER COUNTY INDIAN RIVER COURTHOUSE + RENOVATION location: vero beach, florida PGAL served as planner, prime architect and interior designer for this AIA Honor Award-winning project located within the context of historic downtown Vero Beach.

This 120,000-square-foot justice center served as a catalyst for redevelopment of the city’s central business district. Six county and circuit courtrooms and a large ceremonial courtroom are located in two zones within the building. A third zone houses the County Attorney’s offices. The main public space is the rotunda encompassing a pair of monumental curving stairs that lead to the courtroom level. The courtrooms are served by five sets of holding cells, court-associated offices, a

jury assembly room, law library, Clerk of Court offices and constitutional offices. A 400-car parking garage, with clear separations of path for security, serves the judicial staff, citizens and visiting public. This pedestrian-friendly, low profile parking structure serves the courthouse and the County Library.

In 2016, PGAL was awarded the renovation to this project and provided architectural design services for the relocation of the Land Records and the Juvenile Department to the first floor Law Library and converting the vacated area on the second floor into a new courtroom.

CITY OF CONROE MUNICIPAL COURTS location: conroe, texas A series of needs assessment work sessions led by PGAL brought together key stakeholders and designers to collaborate on the functionality of the new facility and develop a 20-year master plan.

The project includes a 69,500-square-foot combined police headquarters and municipal courts facility as well as a separate SWAT building. It houses a 150-person courtroom, uniform services bureau, crime lab, evidence processing and storage, secure server room for 9-1-1 and other equipment, and secure lobby.

The complex is arranged to provide two distinct entrances and separate secured parking for the police department

and municipal court functions. The building’s lobby facilitates interaction for department personnel working behind the counters while providing ballistic protection.

A series of needs assessment work sessions led by PGAL brought together key stakeholders and designers to collaborate on the functionality of the new facility and develop a 20-year master plan.

GENERAL SERVICES ADMINISTRATION REYNALDO G. GARZA + FILEMON B. VERA COURTHOUSE location: brownsville, texas PGAL served as Design Excellence architect for the 198,000-square-foot, four-story courthouse in Brownsville, Texas. The courthouse design celebrates Brownsville’s heritage as well as the solemnity, integrity, and fairness of the Federal Judicial System.

PGAL used the building’s architecture to create a sense of place defined by enclosure and edges, much like the South Texas region’s historic missions. The classical twostory portico, use of natural light, and open interior design complement the straightforward arrangement of two sets of paired courtrooms with a central public space known as the Great Hall, which includes a grand monumental stair.

The Civic Plaza continues this theme of civic openness

with a tree-lined outdoor extension of the ceremonial court for citizenship ceremonies and other special occasions.

ARANSAS COUNTY + CITY OF ROCKPORT COURTHOUSE COUNTY COURTHOUSE + CITY HALL location: rockport, texas Due to damage caused to each of their buildings by Hurricane Harvey, Aransas County and the City of Rockport initiated this project to design a new facility to include both the county courthouse and city hall. The project site is located on two and a half city blocks in downtown Rockport.

PGAL was selected to provide architecture and engineering services for needs assessment, programming, schematic design, design development, construction documentation, bidding, and construction administration for the project.

The county courthouse will be approximately 46,000 gross square feet and the city hall will be an approximately 27,500-gross-square-foot building. Both buildings will be oriented facing a shared plaza. The project will also include a community building containing meeting rooms, conference rooms, and training rooms that can be rented out and utilized by the community. The total construction cost is estimated to be $35 million.

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