Franklin County's Eco-Conscious Courthouse

The city of Columbus, Ohio establishes itself as the new home to the county's first-ever, LEED-Gold certified, common pleas courthouse.

By Lauren Felechner
Photography by Brad Feinknopf

The concept for Franklin County's new Common Pleas Courthouse in Columbus, Ohio, materialized from the will and wants to construct a public works building that went beyond traditional government blocks and instead supplied a sustainable, serving facility. Partnered up with a league of experts, the county and project team created the 325,000-square-foot courthouse that incorporates innovative construction techniques and unconventional materials, according to Chris Watson, national director of marketing services for Gilbane Building Co., builder for the project.

The Common Pleas Courthouse design phase began in August 2006, taking 16 months to allow for schematic design through multiple bid packages; and completed construction in December 2010 resulting in 32 court sets with 20 used for the common pleas courts. Each set is a self-contained unit featuring a court room, jury box, judge's chamber, holding cell, bailiff's office and jury deliberation rooms. There are also 10 magistrate court rooms, one special proceedings court room and one arraignment court room.

Each court set is built with extensive sound and vibration control to eliminate noise transmissions from nearby court rooms and office spaces, Watson explained. Besides the ample list of grand implementations throughout this expansive building, what's even more impressive is that the courthouse achieved LEED-Gold certification through the U.S. Green Building Council's LEED program.

"Creating a LEED-certified courthouse was a priority for the commissioners, and it is responsible to the environment and cost-effective for the future," Watson said. Achieving this level of certification is the first for any county courthouse in Ohio and will allow Franklin County to save money by reducing energy costs; minimizing the building's impact on the site's infrastructure; providing a healthy, effective and productive learning and work environment; and reducing the environmental impact of the building by using local, reused, or recycled and less resource-intensive materials, according to John Schilling, project manager, DesignGroup, architect for the courthouse. The utilization of an educated and experienced project team opened the door for a more familiar and transitional design scheme experience. According to Schilling, through the 'Qualification Based Selection Process' implemented by Franklin County, the DesignGroup team's qualifications included contemporary courthouse design experience, extensive court facility design experience, sustainable design practices (LEED) and experience in managing large, complex public projects – making them the most obvious and viable candidate. "Not only do the building and site reflect the current best practices for sustainable design, but this investment in the urban fabric of our downtown reclaims an underutilized site for a vital, dynamic use as our courthouse," Schilling explained.

With such a competent background, DesignGroup was able to fully comprehend the concept behind the courthouse as well as its design, layout and site plan. Its site plan was chosen to complete the four-cornered 'courthouse-square' concept as it integrates existing and neighboring public amenities. Located within the Columbus' government center, although when completed the courthouse provides a strong visual identity for the center, there were some design challenges along the way. Since the courthouse was designed to allow for horizontal expansion, it was problematic to maintain connectivity for all of the vital processes and required segregated circulation for security purposes within the government center. Therefore, the new courthouse is connected to the existing government center by a multi-compartment tunnel system, that provides access to the general public and court staff as well as a secure passage for detainees being held in the adjacent county jail facility, according to Schilling. Alongside maintaining security regulations, the senior general superintendent of Gilbane was working to ensure a smooth coincide between the courthouses construction with the nearby road repair that was taking place. Another construction challenge, according to Watson, was the preservation of the $5 million hickory woodwork by controlling the heat and humidity in the courthouse. In order to protect the delicate material at hand, construction workers installed an HVAC system to safeguard the wood's integrity. Such critical materials were used throughout the courthouse in order to not only achieve certification, but make for a more comfortable and ecofriendly atmosphere. "The architect fashioned the Franklin County courthouse to relax its occupants, and an effective, energy-efficient, climate-control system provides workers with a comfortable setting. Brightly-colored materials also reduce the facility's heat load, and white paint on the roof helps to lower the temperature and minimize the heat island effect in this metropolitan area," Watson explained. The team behind Franklin County's Common Pleas Courthouse did not want to create a cookie-cutter, dark, municipal facility, but rather a lighter and welcoming public works place.

"It is, simply, an accessible facility, designed to promote institutional clarity and quality," Watson stated. To create such an accessible and quality-constructed institution, Gilbane and DesignGroup implemented such green features as: East-to-west orientation to optimize its exposure to daylight; high-efficiency climate control systems; high ceilings allowing light into courtrooms; recycled and local materials used during construction; a 'green' canopy lobby; and a 5,000-square-foot 'living' green roof that cools the building and helps control runoff rainwater, which is absorbed by plants and soil, and collected to use as irrigation on the landscaping, according to Watson. "Each year, the facility is expected to be 25-percent more energy efficient and use 1 million gallons of water less than a traditional facility, significantly trimming the county's operational costs and promoting resource management in downtown Columbus," Watson stated. Alongside the formentioned features, Franklin County's new Common Pleas Courthouse also entails: Low-flow and dual-flush plumbing fixtures; windowed walls to absorb ultraviolet light and other forms of potentially harmful radiation; HVAC systems; alternative transportation options; as well as 90 percent diversion of waste from landfill.

Although it may seem that Franklin County's new Common Pleas Courthouse cannot get any more sophisticated, Watson explained that Gilbane has actually left room for expansion surrounding the courthouse, due to Central Ohio's continuous growth. The company has secured space to both the southwest and north of the establishment for further development. The plots set aside for the expansion are currently being used as green space to enhance the courthouse atmosphere. Even with its laundrylist of cutting-edge and eco-conscious applications, the new courthouse site and building wanted to remain traditionallyintact by incorporating customary components. "The new Franklin County courthouse is a building of today and of the future. It reflects current design thinking and nationallevel experience related to justice planning, efficiency, technology, security, durability and flexibility for future growth," Schilling said.

Lauren Felechner is an assistant editor at American Infrastructure. She may be contacted at lfelechner@penpubinc.com.