United States Federal Courthouse, Eugene, Oregon
Credit: Tim Griffith
Credit: Jpowers
United States Federal Courthouse, Eugene
Eugene, Oregon
Architect - Morphosis
Credit: Tim Griffith
United States Federal Courthouse, Eugene
Eugene, Oregon
Architect - Morphosis
Credit: Tim Griffith
United States Federal Courthouse, Eugene
Eugene, Oregon
Architect - Morphosis
Credit: Tim Griffith
The image of a courthouse often is of monolithic stone or marble structures. It’s as if the buildings with their classic designs are intended as shrines to remind us that the concepts of law and justice have been passed down to us from the distant past.
These values, however, are as much a part of the present and future as they are of the past. The Wayne L. Morse United States Courthouse in Eugene, Ore., stands as a vibrant symbol of the living, working justice system in the U.S. Its sleek metal façade looks to the future and portrays elegance and strength. Its open, naturally lit, inviting interior is designed to welcome, rather than exclude, the community it serves.
Integrated Design
As a property owned and managed by the Washington, D.C.-based General Services Administration—the largest landlord in the U.S. and a group that has a stated dedication to green building—the courthouse had sustainability in its DNA from the start. However, because it also was designed to house U.S. marshals and probation space, as well as federal and bankruptcy courts, the structure needed to be built with security in mind. As determined by the Washington-based Interagency Security Committee, the 5-story, 267,000-square-foot (24805-m2) building is a Security Level IV facility, which is one level below buildings such as the Pentagon. As such, the courthouse has stringent, complex security requirements.
The project team was able to achieve the seemingly discordant goals of security, sustainability and aesthetics by working closely together in the design and construction phases of the project. Early design charrettes were vital to the project because it was important to get all parties involved and at the table from the beginning so they could establish and properly plan to meet all the project’s ambitions. Portland, Ore.-based DLR Group was chosen as the architect of record and partnered with Santa Monica, Calif.-based design architect, Morphosis.
“The team was made up with people focused on carrying the project from its design intent to its final follow-through,” says James Conley, principal with DLR Group and project manager through the construction phase of the Wayne L. Morse Courthouse project. “The synergy of our team during construction was the same kind of synergy we see during the design process. It was important that the details of the design were carried through in the construction.”
Safe and Green
Tough security requirements on this kind of project—which include vehicle barriers, building setbacks, blast mitigation and defenses against ballistic, biological and chemical attacks—typically result in buildings that are somewhat fortress-like and closed off from the community. “We had a lot of bomb-proofing and blast-resistance components built into the exterior wall system,” Conley recalls.
In spite of all the security considerations, it was determined that the facility still could have a welcoming aesthetic, inside and out, and even could meet Washington-based U.S. Green Building Council’s LEED qualifications. The project, which originally was aiming for LEED Silver, in the end earned a LEED Gold certification.
“A large part of earning LEED Gold had to do with the mechanical and electrical systems in the building, but material selections certainly were high on the list of sustainable features we looked at,” Conley says. “We also honored daylighting and installed an underfloor air distribution system.”
Although most courtrooms are dark and closed off from the outside, daylighting was a cornerstone in the design of the Wayne L. Morse Courthouse. “We took a strong look at shading characteristics and sun angles, with the idea of getting light into the building at the appropriate times of day,” Conley explains. “The lighting systems in the building were designed to coordinate with the amount of daylight that comes into the courthouse. The fixtures near the windows are adjustable and increase or decrease depending on the availability of natural light. All these factors help to elevate the human experience.”
Smart lighting design that incorporates occupancy and daylight sensors and maximizes natural lighting has resulted in an estimated energy savings of 38 percent compared to a baseline model. Incorporating the level of glazing necessary to bring in this amount of light, however, is counter to typical courthouse design. But openness was an important goal for the project team.
“We tried to take advantage of all the interior and exterior glass, which was a challenge,” Conley admits. “We had a federal judge that was of the strongest opinion that the courthouse is for the people and that the people should be able to see inside and see what’s going on. His attitude is that we should be concerned about security, but remember this is a public building and has to be accessible to the public.”
Precision in Practice
Metal was used to create a façade that is cutting edge, yet has the appropriate qualities of weight and strength. “It was all derivative of the initial vision of the project—the way the metal responds to the surrounding environment, the stainless steel reflects the seasonal changes in the Eugene climate,” Conley says. “The climate was a pretty strong factor in the design and detailing on the project. It’s a wet climate, so we made sure the detailing honored the necessity to waterproof the area behind the façade so we didn’t have rain, mold and mildew behind the system. The stainless steel skin was really a rain shield and designed to drain itself. That’s why we have the waterproofing fabric behind it.”
With all the shapes and angles in the curvature of the project, it was vital for everyone from design through fabrication and installation to be in complete coordination. “It was critical to work with the metal fabricators and framers,” Conley explains. “We worked closely with the fabricator during the design and construction processes because so many of the pieces were fabricated in Kansas City from computer-generated models and shipped to the jobsite to fit on a steel frame that was already in place.”
The level of precision on the ambitious design demanded a rigorous attention to detail and fluid collaboration among the different parts of the building team. “Once the metal stud system went up and the glass and waterproofing went on, the metal skin components showed up and the tolerances got tighter and tighter as we got closer to that skin,” Conley continues. “It was phenomenal; we never had any problems that became big enough to create havoc during construction.”
All the planning and hard work has resulted in a stunning building that has won rave reviews from its occupants and from the design community. The courthouse was honored by the Washington-based American Institute of Architects Committee on the Environment as one of its Top Ten Green Projects in 2007.
Even more importantly, the courthouse has earned the praise of the people that use it every day. “I recently got a letter from Judge Michael Hogan, thanking a group of us who worked on the project,” Conley says. “In the 35 years of my career, this is probably the finest project and the finest team of people I’ve worked with. It has to do with the design, but it also has to do with the GSA and the courts people. It was the first GSA courts project that was done on time and on budget and, in the end, everyone walked away good friends. Since then, all of us on the team have been trying to recreate the success of that project.”