CO Architects’ design for the South County Justice Center expresses contemporary civic values while functioning efficiently and providing a pleasant environment for building users. The architects worked closely with judicial officials and staff to craft a distinctive building and site
characterized by balance, clarity, and practicality. The courthouse’s nine courtrooms, familyoriented amenities, convenient staff areas, user friendly service windows, and security features work in concert to enable high-volume use by the public and staff.

The design prioritizes practicality, while it defines a new contemporary courthouse approach for the region. The building is presented as dignified and substantial, while it also expresses openness and everyday convenience. These ideas are first evident when approaching the building. Earth berms that lift the building above the site’s parking lot and streetscape showcase the courthouse’s light yet formidable form while simultaneously enhancing security. The building’s high slab roof is a striking feature hovering over a 7,000-square-foot entry courtyard and held in place with metal columns that rise to the full height of the building. The architects thoughtfully designed this outstanding feature to express and balance symbolism with function.

The slab roof appears as wafer thin, is punched through with a large oculus, and seems to float separately from the main body of the building. A colonnade of 17, 50-foot-high slender supports carries the slab with elegance, with five of the columns open to the broad expanse of the site. This built representation of the civic ideal is practical as well, providing shade in the sunny climate of California’s San Joaquin Valley, sheltering open service windows, providing a focal point to the entrance to the building, and creating a signature identity for the building. The slab and column form creates a canopy, which echoes the natural canopy of a stand of Malus trees that provide a serene transition between the site’s parking lot and the entry courtyard. The expansive site’s landscape design makes use of drought-resistant native plants.

Building circulation is logical and simple. Visitors pass through a covered courtyard with glass walls whose transparency starts the way-finding process before entry into the lobby of the building itself. Visitors, thus oriented, make their way through security; a security staff control and support room is conveniently and conspicuously adjacent. Depending on their destinations, they head either to the left, toward a curving stairway leading to the second floor, or to a bank of elevators to the right. Separate entryways for judges, in addition to circulation pathways and an
elevator for administrative staff, provide security and reduce traffic through the lobby.

Visitors to the first floor encounter 18 service counter workstation windows serving visitors’ needs across three court divisions—with staff trained to handle inquiries for all three. Visitors enter one
of two courtrooms situated to the north of the first floor, conveniently located near security and designed for high-volume use.

Three courtrooms and support spaces on the second floor, and four on the third floor, are interchangeable in terms of use, and were designed in consultation with the judges who preside there. Among the features are corner bench configurations that enable helpful vantage points and
natural daylight through side walls. The courtrooms are scaled to need—most sized to 1,680 square feet; with one at 1,996 square feet. Like those on the first floor, they present a clean, tasteful and efficient setting—comporting well with the overall building design. 

Among the other design elements responding to pressing needs for convenience and
contemporary justice-system needs, both for the public and staff are:
• Courtyard service centers—located on the south side of the open courtyard, beneath the slab
roof—offering convenience to visitors with routine business at the courthouse. The feature
precludes the need for these visitors to pass through building security.
• Space set aside for a separate children’s waiting area for use with a Family Court Mediation
and Self Help Service Center. Wayfinding to the Center is easy and convenient.
• Efficient file storage and staff support areas with direct routes to courtrooms.

The end result of the combination of elements in this distinctive design: a building slated for LEED Silver certification that combines efficiency with elegance.