New Federal Courthouse to Rise Downtown
September 17, 2009 21:45 Filed in: News
A bold new federal courthouse is set to rise on the same prime downtown site that Intel abandoned earlier in the decade. With a recent groundbreaking, the project will be constructed on the Western edge of Republic Square Park.
During the tough years of the tech bust, the City lobbied hard for the GSA (Government Services Administration) to build on the Intel site to eliminate a very public eyesore. At this time, there was very little downtown development and few takers for downtown lots. During the peak of the boom, the City changed its mind, lobbying the GSA this time to build on another site and to once again free a very important and valuable piece of downtown real estate.
Federal courthouses come with a few problems. First, they are single-purpose buildings. This means that they do not contain retail, do not engage the street, and are absolutely dead at night and on weekends. In the rapidly expanding second street district, the courthouse will inevitably break the pedestrian-friendly grid. The second big issue is that security requirements will require the City to close the street between the courthouse and Republic park, interrupting the flow of traffic downtown.
The courthouse brings one advantage: bold architecture. Today, Austin is relatively weak when in comes to bold modern architecture. There is city hall and . . . . well . . . .that's about it. Like it or not, the bold brutalist monolithic courthouse soon to rise is adventurous architecture. It will be a strong presence downtown and will add character to an area filled with generic buildings. Over the last few years, the GSA has won praise for investing in innovative architecture, something the government is not expected to do.
Here are the renderings of the project as designed by Mack Scogin Merrill Elam Architects:
For architecture fans, here is the project description from Mack Scogin Merrill Elam Architects:
"Located in downtown Austin, the courthouse will occupy a full city block directly west of Republic Square Park. The square configuration of the site sponsors a highly compact, cubic building form. The stability of the cubic form exemplifies the strength, coherence and dignity of the judicial system. Floor plates approach a square configuration. A plinth forms a base holding the sidewalk-edge, providing anti-ram protection, and addressing the scale of the park.
Level 5 marks the beginning of a rotated and interlocking courtroom distribution scheme. All floor to floor heights at the courtroom levels meet the ceiling height requirement for offices and chambers, with courtrooms attaining their required ceiling heights by penetrating the floor directly above. Like courtrooms are stacked affecting a rationally organized structural system and an efficient area to volume ratio. On each courts level, one district and one magistrate courtroom share a public space.
The scheme demands a diagonal exchange of public space that take advantage, like the courtrooms, of the double-height space. All courtrooms, jury deliberation rooms, chambers, public spaces and witness / attorney conference rooms are located at exterior surfaces where natural light is available."
During the tough years of the tech bust, the City lobbied hard for the GSA (Government Services Administration) to build on the Intel site to eliminate a very public eyesore. At this time, there was very little downtown development and few takers for downtown lots. During the peak of the boom, the City changed its mind, lobbying the GSA this time to build on another site and to once again free a very important and valuable piece of downtown real estate.
Federal courthouses come with a few problems. First, they are single-purpose buildings. This means that they do not contain retail, do not engage the street, and are absolutely dead at night and on weekends. In the rapidly expanding second street district, the courthouse will inevitably break the pedestrian-friendly grid. The second big issue is that security requirements will require the City to close the street between the courthouse and Republic park, interrupting the flow of traffic downtown.
The courthouse brings one advantage: bold architecture. Today, Austin is relatively weak when in comes to bold modern architecture. There is city hall and . . . . well . . . .that's about it. Like it or not, the bold brutalist monolithic courthouse soon to rise is adventurous architecture. It will be a strong presence downtown and will add character to an area filled with generic buildings. Over the last few years, the GSA has won praise for investing in innovative architecture, something the government is not expected to do.
Here are the renderings of the project as designed by Mack Scogin Merrill Elam Architects:
For architecture fans, here is the project description from Mack Scogin Merrill Elam Architects:
"Located in downtown Austin, the courthouse will occupy a full city block directly west of Republic Square Park. The square configuration of the site sponsors a highly compact, cubic building form. The stability of the cubic form exemplifies the strength, coherence and dignity of the judicial system. Floor plates approach a square configuration. A plinth forms a base holding the sidewalk-edge, providing anti-ram protection, and addressing the scale of the park.
Level 5 marks the beginning of a rotated and interlocking courtroom distribution scheme. All floor to floor heights at the courtroom levels meet the ceiling height requirement for offices and chambers, with courtrooms attaining their required ceiling heights by penetrating the floor directly above. Like courtrooms are stacked affecting a rationally organized structural system and an efficient area to volume ratio. On each courts level, one district and one magistrate courtroom share a public space.
The scheme demands a diagonal exchange of public space that take advantage, like the courtrooms, of the double-height space. All courtrooms, jury deliberation rooms, chambers, public spaces and witness / attorney conference rooms are located at exterior surfaces where natural light is available."