|
May 3, 2006
 |
Image courtesy Mack Scogin Merrill Elam Architects
|
"Unusually extroverted" was what magistrates asked Atlanta-based architecture firm Mack Scogin Merrill Elam to deliver for the design of a $63 million federal courthouse in Austin, Texas. The recently unveiled plans reveal a building that will seek to achieve LEED Silver certification and will comprise seven stories and 211,690 square feet. It will have a special proceedings courtroom, four district courtrooms, three magistrate courtrooms, jury assembly facilities and facilities for other court departments.
Located on a prominent block of downtown Austin now dominated by the skeleton of a building abandoned in mid-construction in 2001, the 135-foot-tall courthouse will respond to all four sides of its site. Its pedestrian mall to the east will feed into an existing park and take advantage of views of the state capitol, Town Lake, and the surrounding hill country. “The real driving force of the design was the judges’ desire for this to be a very open building,” says architect Merrill Elam. “Every courtroom, every jury deliberation room, every office needed to have a window and views.”
Set back 50 feet from the street as required for security reasons, the current iteration of the design calls for vertical ribbons of translucent glass on all sides of the geometric building, with two-story lobby windows shaded by deep recesses on the northeast corner. Construction is slated to begin in 2008 contingent on federal funding.
Ingrid Spencer
|
Video
