Scott Frances/Esto
Spector Group in association with
Richard Meier & Partners

Photography © Scott Frances/Esto

Completed in October, 2000, the United States Courthouse and Federal building in Central Islip, Long Island, New York is already a landmark. A hallmark of this United States Courthouse and Federal Building is its clear, elegant order. The building is home to a complex array of functions that, in addition to courtrooms and judges chambers, includes prisoner handling facilities, jury assembly rooms, a library, cafeteria and several floors of office space. It is a large facility – 735,000 square feet. There are 23 courtrooms and more than 2000 parking spaces. It provides appropriate security for judges, staff, prisoners, users and visitors.

The building is organized linearly. Within the long rectangular main space, an atrium divides District and Magistrate Courts on the west from Bankruptcy Courts on the east. The courtrooms are paneled with cherry wood and have ceilings more than 15 feet high. Their layout is traditional yet flexible with moveable witness boxes and attorneys' tables. The bench is elevated and on axis with the entrance. The jury box is to the side opposite the witness box, and the spectator area is at the back. Perhaps the most modern element is the lighting, which is articulated with a large square or circular recess in the ceiling. The courtrooms integrate the latest audio-visual and digital technologies.

The public, south-facing plaza wall is glass and offers panoramic views to the Atlantic Ocean. The north façade is a solid plane, the private edge of the courthouse highlighted with a rhythmic pattern of strip windows to articulate offices and judges' chambers.

This is a steel frame building with a precast concrete garage. The exterior of the building is clad in white-coated aluminum panels. In the interior, courtroom entrances are granite, and the same material is used for the floors of the public spaces.

For more on this project please see the October 2001 issue of Architectural Record.

The Winners: Chesapeake Bay | Corning Museum | Dulwich Galllery | Kuhonji Temple Gate | LVMH Tower | Pedestrian Bridge | Phillips Plastics | Saitama Arena | SAP Headquarters | Chiller Plant | Wieden + Kennedy Headquarters

The Finalists: Allegheny Jail | Hansen Construction | Helmut Lang Perfumerie | Herman Miller Showroom | Lincoln St. Garage | TBWA/Chiat/Day | U.S. Courthouse | Westpac Stadium

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