October 31, 2002

Architectural odd couple is bound by public spirit

Courtesy of Tim Griffith/NBBJ The design for the Seattle Justice Center reflects the building’s separate functions: the municipal court occupies the glass portion while the police department inhabits the taller masonry portion, shown here at the far end of the structure.

The Seattle Justice Center, housing the city’s police headquarters and municipal court, commands sweeping views of the new civic campus between Puget Sound and First Hill.

Perched at the highest point in the overall plan, it holds a special significance both programmatically and architecturally.

Separate identities

A strong desire for separate identities for the police and the courts yields a structure with two different parts: a glass portion occupying the southern end of the block for the courts, and a masonry portion to the north for the police.

The courts’ transparent curtain wall equates accessibility with the intrinsic search for clarity and truth in our justice system. The stone façade reflects the strength and tradition inherent in the police force’s efforts to foster public safety.

On the building’s top floor, the jury assembly room with vaulted ceilings and expansive glazing reflects the value that the city places on the jury’s public service. Much of the building is accessible to citizens, including a large roof terrace adjacent to the jury assembly room.

The elevated height of the Justice Center allows it to serve as a backdrop to City Hall and gives spatial definition to the grand civic open spaces of the campus below. The dual nature of the building responds to the administration office tower and council chambers of City Hall.

Because justice serves as the ultimate system of checks and balances in government, this framing of City Hall and its legislative proceedings gives the general public a visual reminder of the philosophical roots of democracy.

Creating a public character

For visitors arriving at the Seattle Justice Center, the legibility of the structure is apparent. The courts and police headquarters have their own entries. The court entry is located off a plaza with flags, steps and the water feature fronting on Fifth Avenue.

Additionally, the public space is targeted for a significant integrated work of public art, further emphasizing the public character of this part of the building. The police entry, also off Fifth Avenue, is smaller and more discrete in nature, and is signified by a canopy that relates to circulation along the Justice Center’s west side.

The site is bounded by Cherry Street on the north, Fifth Avenue on the west, James Street on the south, and the existing SeaPark Garage on the east.

In keeping with the public nature of the courts, a welcoming open area is introduced along Fifth Avenue by pushing back this portion of the structure 36 feet from the property line along Fifth Avenue.

Adding to the neighborhood

The courts portion of the Seattle Justice Center is configured to address different scales of the urban condition. On the ground floor, a large double-height lobby speaks to pedestrians at street level. On the upper floors, the lobbies and courtrooms can be seen from the Civic Center campus, reaching out to the surrounding neighborhood.

The program requirement of nine courtrooms, six of which required in-custody elevator service, led to the arrangement of three courtrooms on each floor — two courtrooms paired around a single in-custody elevator.

The arrangement of three courts per floor on three floors directly manifests itself on the façade. At the top of the courts’ portion of the structure, the outdoor terrace and canopy express the public realm at the roof.

The organization of the building is seen as an extension and affirmation of the urban strategies outlined in the city’s master plan for the new civic campus. The courts serve as a terminus for the open public space and complement the council chambers to the west while the police headquarters and City Hall continue the urban edge of the master plan to the south.

In this way, larger, more honorific public gathering spaces are aligned to send a gesture of goodwill to the King County government, situated a block south, and invite participation in the creation of public spaces.

Built to last

As a testament to the longevity of its governing systems, the city of Seattle envisioned the Civic Center as a facility lasting over 100 years. The design of the Seattle Justice Center responds to this logic by using high-quality materials in a classically modern style that resists appearing dated. The use of columns at the base of the building recalls the country’s traditional buildings of state, such as the Capitol and Supreme Court buildings in Washington, D.C.

There are 12 floors in the building, which, except for the basement and first floor, have 14-foot floor-to-floor heights. Should the courts or police outgrow the space, the interiors maintain the scale of a typical office building in order to capitalize upon future possible uses for the building. Further, a single, primary elevator core provides service to the building, allowing floors a great deal of flexibility.

Sustainable design

Also looking to the future, the city of Seattle mandated that the new Civic Center campus stand as a model of sustainable building design. The vision for this evolving policy is that city government will serve as an example of sound environmental policy to which other organizations can aspire. In particular, the goal focuses on the design, construction and operation of new and existing city buildings.

To that end, the Seattle Justice Center is designed to achieve a silver rating from the U.S. Green Building Council’s LEED program, adopting a number of innovative greening strategies that users and visitors will immediately recognize. The project brief emphasizes a pleasing work environment with ample daylight, views and outdoor connections, but not at the expense of increased air conditioning or energy expenditure.

The site made it challenging, however, to address these programmatic goals. Constrained on the east by an eight-story parking garage, and on the north by a series of high-rises, only the south and west sides offered good exposure to natural light.

These orientations, from an energy standpoint, are the least desirable for large areas of glazing, while the depth of the site also limited chances for daylight to penetrate a building. The sustainable solution was to offset these conditions through the use of a naturally vented “double skin” window wall for a large section of the building’s southwest façade.

A thermal buffer

Known as a “glazed thermal buffer,” the intent of this section of window wall is to allow maximum penetration of light to the interior working spaces while minimizing heat gain. The façade is composed of two planes of glass separated by a 30-inch air space.

This air space has louvers on automatic control at the top and bottom of the wall that can either be closed to retain air, creating an insulating barrier to capture heat on cold days, or opened to vent heat from the assembly on hot days.

The west wall further allows maximum light exposure into the large public areas and open spaces specifically placed along the wall. Each floor has a horizontal light shelf that reflects light onto the ceiling, reducing glare and sending diffuse sunlight into the building. This daylight reduces reliance on artificial lighting, lowers electrical costs and contributes to the quality of the workspace.

Additionally, the principal roof areas of the Seattle Justice Center are designated with a “green” roof. This design adds a layer of soil over the top of a membrane in which grasses and other plants are grown. The environmentally valuable results are an insulation effect from the soil, as well as removal of solar energy via the vegetation’s photosynthesis.

The green roof also filters pollutants out of the air and returns oxygen to the environment. And, in keeping with the building’s sustainability goals, a water-harvesting system collects rainwater that falls on the roof and stores it for later use. This provides irrigation for the plants, charges the water feature and reduces the building’s use of municipal potable water.

Finally, the largest section of planted roof has been placed adjacent to the public outdoor terrace where it will serve as a pleasant landscape for staff and visitors.

Civic buildings should establish a public sense of familiarity, one that brings people together in an experience of confidence and trust. Embedded in the heart of Seattle, the Justice Center provides an enduring reflection of a city devoted to democracy, justice and the public good.

By creating a place not only to protect and serve, but also to honor the public voice, this building along with the entire civic campus embodies the value that Seattle places on the ideas of its people.

Other Stories:

• A model for sustainable design
  
• Plaza helps unify civic campus
  
• Engineers had their fill of this site
  
• Sustainability comes with a view
  
• Justice Center art reflects social themes