Justice / Corrections

The Merced County Courthouse was designed to replace several outdated structures and portables with limited security and awkward exterior circulation. The new courthouse began as a County funded project and eventually became the California Administrative Office of the Court’s first partially funded courthouse project. It remains an excellent example of how thoughtful planning can result in a building that successfully balances functionality, security and durability while economically providing the dignity and decorum of the courts.

The plan uses an efficient linear court arrangement and cost-effective construction to create a safe, secure and comfortable court facility. The two-story building houses six jury courtrooms, holding, jury assembly, judicial offices and clerks’ areas. A secure underground tunnel connects the central inmate holding area with the courtroom holding. Working with a limited budget, the economies of tilt-up concrete panel construction were exploited to produce façades with deep reveals, recessed windows, and a punched parapet. The resulting expression is contemporary but congruent with the traditional image of courthouse architecture desired by the County. The design draws from elements found in Merced’s historic courthouse. The tower that punctuates the long axis of the building serves to signify the building entrance while making a symbolic reference to the many towers found throughout the city.

The design of the housing addition, known as House 4, to the Placer County Main Jail included two major components. The first component was the new 192-bed maximum and medium security housing unit with new administration offices and a public visitation area. The second component was a controls upgrade project for the entire facility.

House 4 is located between two existing maximum security pods. House 4 has an elevated central control area with direct views into four maximum security pods, a dormitory, three recreation yards/areas, a multipurpose room, a classroom and the inmate entrance to the housing unit. This arrangement maximized visual control of inmates while minimizing staff required for operations. There are two maximum-security pods, which are designed for double bunking with eight cells on each tier equaling 32 inmates per pod. The other two maximum security pods are designed for single bunks with eight cells, one each tier, equaling 16 inmates per pod. The dormitory is designed for a 20-bed capacity.

The visitation area accommodates all new and existing housing units with 39 visitation stations broken up into four sections to control various populations. A separate control area has visual control of the visitation area, the public lobby and attorney-inmate rooms. Administration and shell space completed the design.

The controls project included the addition of a secure controls/electronics room to house new door monitoring, door control, intercom, video recording and CCTV equipment. Central control is reconfigured for new cabinetry, graphic control panels and security monitors.

The Nacht & Lewis and HLM Design team created a design to solve a functionally complex program and a constrained downtown urban site, while also presenting a dignified representation of the United States judicial system in Sacramento, California. The 16-story building, now named the Robert T. Matsui Courthouse, houses courtrooms, judicial chambers, and public space, all expressed volumetrically in the exterior design. The courthouse allows for conversion of initial tenant office spaces to courtrooms and chambers in the future. A second, four-story low-rise structure houses the sky lit rotunda lobby, which is the main entry point for the public. The project included two levels of secure sub-grade parking to accommodate 300 cars. Offices from the 5th floor and above were strategically placed on the north side of the building to take advantage of day lighting without the sun control issues of south facing windows.

This large scale, high profile urban project features a design that returns to symmetry upon entering the courtrooms, purposefully making a statement to acknowledge the pride, solidity and permanence of the judicial system and the laws of the land it represents. The combination of limestone and metal materials were used in the design to reinforce the civic nature of the building. While the design is of our time, it also employs contemporary variations of traditional courthouse iconography to reinforce the dignity and decorum of the justice system.

Nacht & Lewis has designed multiple phases of the Lake County Adult Detention Facility starting with the original jail facility, which was completed in 1990. Currently, Nacht & Lewis continues to work with Lake County and the Sheriff’s Department to master plan the facility expansion. The ultimate build-out will accommodate over 485 inmates in a mix of single cell and dormitory housing, with a sheriff’s operations facility on the same site.

Phase I, completed two 56-bed dormitories, one each for sentenced males and females, 21 single cells for pre-sentenced females including intake/release, central kitchen and laundry facilities and staff and inmate service space.

In Phase II, completed in 1999, Nacht & Lewis designed a housing unit and an intake/release facility addition. The housing unit contains three maximum-security pods of two-tier configuration with a total of 35 cells and two medium security dormitories with 24-bed capacity each. Each unit has two integral recreation yards, visiting space, medical and program rooms. Each unit is controlled by the control room at the upper level with a direct view into all housing areas, recreation yards and visiting. The intake/release provides a pre-booking interview area, holding cells, booking lounge, three detox rooms and dressing in/out cells adjacent to property storage room and court transfer holding. The central booking counter provides for overview to all inmate spaces.

Phase III, completed in 2003, added bed capacity to the phase I facility. The additional cells were built in shelled space that was planned into the original facility for future expansion.

The joint venture between Nacht & Lewis and HOK first established goals and objectives for improving the Sacramento County detention complex to consider both the rights and protection of prisoners and the public. The architectural solution responds to a restricted urban site resulting in a multi-story building articulated to form six slender towers. The new Main Jail building is a complete 1,250-bed pre-trial detention facility, including arraignment and secure courtrooms, replacing the existing County Main Jail. Exterior materials are pre-cast concrete and porcelain metal panels, chosen for their ease of maintenance, durability and compatibility with surrounding buildings.

Inmates are housed in 96-bed “mini-jails” which are self-contained units with an outdoor exercise area, visiting area, program spaces, day areas, dining rooms, sub-security systems and decentralized operations. In order to reduce operational costs, improve security and facilitate in-custody judicial proceedings, a court facility is located on the ground floor of the jail. This court section provides four courtrooms, related staff areas and a large holding/attorney visiting area below the courtrooms. Arraignments, preliminary motions and high security trials are conducted on this floor. Flexibility in the plan provides expansion to the year 2025 through completion of “shelled-in” space and of a subsequent tower.

Nacht & Lewis was retained to program and design a new Main County Jail facility for El Dorado County. The facility was designed to accommodate 196 inmates in a mix of single cells and dormitories. The design reflects the two distinct functional requirements of the new jail: 1) Two 2-tier housing modules which provide 128 single cells, four 16-bed dormitories, dayrooms, indoor and outdoor exercise areas, visiting and inmate program areas and 2) A two story administrative support module which provides staff and administration spaces, booking, intake/release, infirmary with medical and dental suites, food service, kitchen, laundry and central control.

The Jail is sited on a radically sloping site in Placerville. The multi-level modules step down the slope to effectively take advantage of the terrain to facilitate external and internal circulation and to reduce the visible mass of the building. To facilitate a court ordered construction schedule, the construction process was split into three phases: 1) Site Preparation, 2) Foundation and 3) Building Construction. The building was positioned to allow for master planned future expansion of the housing units up to a total capacity of 400 beds. The double decked main corridor for separate inmate and visitor movement is also expandable lineally to future housing units.

The control room at the center of the housing unit commands a 360-degree unobstructed view of supervision with communication consoles. This design is a direct result of the staffing efficiency analysis conducted by Nacht & Lewis and Consultants. In 2006 Nacht & Lewis was selected to design the El Dorado County Main Jail Expansion. The project is currently on hold.

The Gordon D. Schaber Courthouse is home to the main administrative offices of the court, as well as containing trial courtrooms, the Department of the Presiding Judge, and the general civil and criminal case processing support units. Built in 1965, the courthouse is still in use today.

Listed on the National Register of Historic Places this building was designed by Starks & Flanders in 1931 in the French Renaissance style exhibited by many government buildings in America, particularly in the District of Columbia. The facade, basement, and first floor are covered in California Granite. Upper levels are faced with terra cotta and brick. The elegance and beauty of this building is evident still today.

 

Some images contained in this blog were used from the Center for Sacramento History

E.C. Hemmings and William A. Jones of Vallejo prepared plans for the Solano County Courthouse in 1911 after having won a competition for the rights to design the project. The new courthouse was estimated to cost $350,000.

In the  Nov.1909 -Jan. 1910 edition of  Architect & Engineer of California and the Pacific Coast it lists Hemmings and Jones as the designers, although Hemmings  is usually the only one given architectural credit. What is more likely is that Hemmings and Jones designed and constructed this project together. The courthouse represents the first known pairing of the duo as they would go on to design and construct the First Baptist Church of Vallejo a decade later.

The courthouse is featured prominently in the  July- Dec. 1917 edition of  Architect & Engineer of California and the Pacific Coast Recent Work of Mr. E.C. Hemmings.

This courthouse is an outstanding example of Beaux Arts architecture and is part of the Central Solano County Heritage Commission’s inventory of “Lasting Heritage” buildings. It is currently under renovation.

This multi-phase project resulted in the addition of two courtrooms, chambers and holding areas into an existing 1980’s era courthouse. Phase I required the relocation of the Court Clerk suite to an adjacent building. Since the adjacent building was constructed in the 1930’s, creative solutions to fire life safety and access compliance were necessary.

With the Court Clerk successfully relocated, Phase II began. The space vacated by the clerks was originally shell space planned for a future court-set. However, the requirements for courtrooms and holding had changed since initial construction was completed. The original design intent could not be duplicated, primarily due new accessibility requirements. Because lifts were impractical, ramps and sloping floors were necessary, which pushed the judicial bench to one side of the room but the courts were adamant about a traditional, center bench design. The design team got creative with diagonal axis and tilted walls which served to re-center the courtrooms. 3-D visualization was used to communicate to the courts that this solution would provide the prominent access they desired without the appearance the courtrooms were rotated. The end result was a pair of dignified courtrooms with premium finishes and detailing which integrated them harmoniously into the existing courthouse.

This project was funded by the County of Solano, but managed by the Administrative Office of the Courts (AOC). Because the AOC needed to be assured the project was within before Phase I design was complete, the project transitioned to a Design-Assist delivery at 50% design development. This was the first project delivery of this kind for the AOC, and is considered a successful venture.

The new Enhanced Outpatient (EOP) building is a single story building accessed directly from D yard of the Los Angeles County (LAC) facility. The facility was programmed to provide mental health services for general population inmates. The footprint of the facility was designed to fit between existing structures on site. The floor plan was compartmentalized into three sections in order to take advantage of the economies of less restrictive construction types.

The building includes: classrooms, group rooms, recreational therapy rooms, interview rooms, interdisciplinary treatment conference rooms and administrative offices and support space.

Nacht & Lewis conducted a space plan study of Sacramento County Courthouse to determine whether certain court functions could be relocated and fit within identified areas of the building, and determine the feasibility of such relocations relative to existing structural, mechanical and electrical systems/conditions. We also determined associated code upgrades, identified the extent to which fire and life safety code upgrades would be required and estimated the probable cost of construction of the relocations and code upgrades. A resulting project was the renovation of the presiding judge’s courtroom, Department 43, which had no jury box and was not accessible. A corner bench design allowed for placement of a jury box for 14 jurists and proper accessibility in the small 25’-6” wide by 37’-6” deep, 956 sq. ft. remodel.

For over 30 years, Nacht & Lewis has provided design services to Sacramento County and the Sheriff’s Department for multiple projects at the Rio Cosumnes Correctional Center (RCCC). Recent projects include a 448-bed medium security (Level II) dormitory, completed in 2000 and two 192-bed, maximum-security housing units. In addition, the firm has designed a new administration building, a new secure perimeter fence with a vehicle sallyport and visitors gatehouse.

Nacht & Lewis continues to work with the Sheriff’s Department to plan the expansion of RCCC to accommodate a growing and changing inmate population. Master planning for the expansion includes new special use housing for medical/mental health treatment, a new intake and booking facility, new education and vocational training classrooms, a new food service and laundry facility and the necessary housing and infrastructure to accommodate up to 5,000 inmates.