Blending the principles of classical architecture with forward-thinking, sustainable design, the Fort Lauderdale Federal Courthouse will become a new civic symbol for one of the country’s fastest growing cities—expressing the ideals of dignity, transparency, and clarity in its architecture.
The new courthouse, located along the southern bank of the Tarpon River, establishes a civic presence that is at once grand and approachable. It rises in a symmetrical cubic form that evokes monumental classical architecture, and is fronted by a single-story shaded colonnade that creates a welcoming arrival experience. The building will be surrounded by new, accessible green spaces, including a riverfront trail retaining existing mangroves.
The building will contain 12 courtrooms, 17 judges’ chambers, and workspace for several agencies, including the U.S. Court of Appeals, the U.S. Bankruptcy Court, the U.S. Marshals Service, the U.S. Attorney’s Office, the U.S. Probation Office, and the U.S. Trustee.
Jury members will gather just beyond the lobby on the first floor, where they can wait either indoors or on a dedicated outdoor terrace before proceeding to the courtrooms. Visitors will enter from the lobby and security checkpoint to a set of central elevators, which open onto expansive, light-filled waiting areas that wrap around the western side of the building and provide access to the courtrooms. A separate circulation system on the eastern side will serve judges and building staff, and the courtrooms will bridge the gap between these public and private spaces.
The facade is designed with a unitized curtain wall of fluted metal and glass panels—emphasizing the building’s verticality, while evoking the detail of classical columns. The gently curving facade consists of three distinct types of panels—transparent full glass, semi-opaque half-glass and half-aluminum spandrel, and fully opaque aluminum spandrel—and the usage of each type reflects differing interior programs. Full glass will clad public-facing waiting areas on the upper floors as well as judicial chambers; the half-glass and half-aluminum spandrel panels will cover all other occupied spaces; and the full aluminum spandrel will be used where no daylight is needed.
With courtrooms primarily located toward the center of the building, SOM developed an intricate system of reflection and diffusion to bring in natural light. Along the northern and southern sides of the building, sunlight will penetrate the curtain wall and reach a fabric shelf that forms the ceiling of the public corridors running along the exterior walls. Reflected light from the angled shelf will then pass through a set of clerestory windows onto the vaulted aluminum ceilings of the courtroom, which will diffuse and reflect the light throughout the room. Combined with the use of natural materials, including oak and local coral stone, this system brings a sense of comfort, brightness, and warmth to these important institutional spaces.
The building is targeting both LEED Gold and SITES Silver certification, and thanks to its advanced building systems and design elements that limit energy use, it is projected to achieve a 30 percent reduction in energy use over the ASHRAE baseline. The variety of facade panels will be a major contributor to this reduction by modulating the bright tropical sunlight. The design also includes displacement ventilation in the courtrooms, as well as infrastructure to accommodate the addition of a photovoltaic solar array on the roof. The courthouse’s vertical massing enables the conservation and addition of green space on three sides, which creates an amenity for the community, reduces the heat island effect, and improves stormwater management in a flood-prone region.
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