The latest high-profile architectural addition to the Fort Lauderdale skyline is moving forward this week as the U.S. General Services Administration (GSA) has announced its approval of SOM's design concept for a new 252,000-square-foot federal courthouse.
The development will target LEED Gold and SITES Silver certifications in a scheme that combines classical influence with state-of-the-art technology.
The ten-story building will serve as home to the federal district court district and a slate of other government agencies that include the U.S. Marshals Service. A focal point of the development is the inclusion and elevation of well-programmed public space, which is represented in the form of a new riverfront trail that will help preserve the Tarpon River adjacent mangrove.
“We wanted to create a building that opens outward to the city,” SOM’s Joseph Ruocco said. “To that end, we composed the courthouse as a symmetrical tower rising above a one-story podium, which lends the building an approachable feel and enables us to add new green spaces throughout the site.”
SOM says the design evolved from a deep study of the needs that users of the court system have oriented around to become a physical embodiment of the ideals of dignity, transparency, and clarity. The courthouse will be characterized by a fluted exterior meant to evoke Corinthian columns and an interior beset by local materials and an influx of natural light meant to provide a sense of comfort and privacy.
A photovoltaic roof feature will be installed. SOM says the building will achieve a 30% reduction in baselines energy use levels. The courthouse will be completed in 2026.
8 Comments
Government buildings are demonstrations of power, not approachability, no matter how your bullshit PR describes them.
Yep, nothing says “approachable” and “responsive government” more than a giant, white, enigmatic Borg cube.
Brings to mind this article from 2007 about Morphosis' design for a federal courthouse, which was one of several government commissions received by the firm as it matured into its current form: https://www.latimes.com/archiv...
FYI: The CUBE is a three dimensional square: it is a symbol of stability and permanence, of geometrical perfection. It represents the final stage of a cycle of immobility, it can be seen as the truth, because it looks the same from any perspective, it is commonly thought of as the counterpart of the sphere. The cube is, in essence, the squaring of a circle. Scientifically, the cube usually represents salt. It is the earth: a square plus the four elements plus the three dimensions. Frequently the forms allegories with solidity and the persistence of virtues, hence it's relation to thrones and chariots.
oh well when you put it that way
There are different kinds of truth.
Anyway it is not a pure cube, it is not a cubic volume, and it does not read as a cube in terms of human scale.
So: is this a traditional design with classical reference? It does sort of resemble a fluted column, is symmetrical, is sort of classically proportioned, and sort of evokes a Platonic solid.
A dead issue, I suppose, but SOM once more has come up with a design that I suspect would satisfy neither modernists nor traditionalists. I'm not clear how well it manages view and natural lighting, which look to be constrained.
The Salt Lake City courthouse might be interesting in the variety it produces from those moving exterior slats. My problem with both buildings is that I lose all sense of scale. It is hard to tell from a glance how tall they are or place them in any context, and impossible to put either building in the human frame, which, I would think, is something a courthouse wants to do. And in both I'm struggling with type.
looks like a cousin of the LA courthouse they did
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