TARRANT COUNTY FAMILY LAW CENTER Fort Worth, Texas

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1 Fort Worth, Texas RELEVANT FEATURES Courthouse design relies on contemporary and traditional influences to create a building appropriate to its urban setting. Courtrooms and lobby areas receive direct, natural light. Final building cost was $3 million under budget, inlcuding a number of bid alternate enhancements the Owner elected to include. The Tarrant County Family Law Center is a 265,000 squarefoot, five-story facility that encompasses two city blocks located in the heart of downtown Fort Worth. The new courthouse, which houses Tarrant County s family law courts, includes 16 District and Associate Family Courtrooms and the associated individual judicial chambers and offices. In undertaking this project, David M. Schwarz Architects sought to create a unique building, where function would be immediately recognizable, while augmenting the surrounding architecture. The firm also wanted to ensure that the building s authority would not intimidate visitors approaching from the sidewalk, a point especially important due to the site s location within the pedestrian-oriented Downtown Redevelopment Core. Keeping these goals in mind, David M. Schwarz Architects was able to create a building in harmony with its location that is both welcoming and comfortable to its visitors. In the process, we were also able to address transportation issues by ensuring the building would be approachable by those using mass transit, and by creating more effective parking for those choosing to drive to the courthouse.

2 The building is sited adjacent to the County s existing historic courthouse a finely-detailed, granite Renaissance Revival courthouse built in The massing and exterior design for the Family Law Center is purposefully sympathetic to the scale, language, and character of the Old Courthouse, and is intended to create the precedent for future development around and within the County s courthouse campus. Even in its construction, the new building pays homage to Texas and the historic courthouse: its natural red granite, intended to emulate the coloring of the courthouse, is Texas-hewn, setting the tone for future construction to compliment not only the styles and colors of existing structures, but the distinct Texas heritage that the County s law campus represents. The building s identity is also defined through subtle ornamentation: star and scale motifs repeat on the exterior and throughout the interior to reiterate the building s Texas identity and purpose and importance as a civic institution. The brick and stone construction creates a sense of permanence and tradition and, combined with the building s feeling of place, it allows the new courthouse to seem like it already has its own history as a Texas landmark. Despite the desire to create a building which would compliment visually the 19-century style of the Old Courthouse, the firm recognized the need to provide for the modern needs of a judicial facility, including the necessity of being physically secure while allowing public access and providing office and meeting spaces for the court s day-to-day activities. The new courthouse includes court staff and Attorney General offices; offices of the District Clerk, Records, Domestic Relations, Family Court Services and specialized District Attorney offices; secure parking for judges and staff; Building Security offices including a sallyport, holding areas and secure prisoner circulation routes; Facilities Management offices, including a 3-berth loading dock; and expansion space dedicated for future growth and flexibility. High-traffic functions are located on the second floor to aid accessibility, where they can be reached easily by either stair or elevator. Construction also included a 7-level parking facility on an adjacent block to serve all visitors driving to the new Center. The garage replaced surface parking that had fallen into disrepair. The court rooms are located on the upper two floors and are linked by a central lobby that is skylit and connected by a staircase. The design for the typical court floor is bilaterally

3 symmetrical about a centered, two-story Main Lobby, with secondary court lobbies to the north and south. The courtrooms are arranged in pairs (one District and one Associate court per pair) at either side of the lobby sequence, with the associated judicial chambers, court staff offices, and secure circulation paths located behind the court, along the east and west sides of the building. In an effort to mitigate and provide relief from the intense and personal nature of Family court proceedings, the design also emphasizes the importance of natural light in the main public spaces and courtrooms. Natural light is introduced into the public spaces along the exterior and into the Main Lobby through an atrium skylight, and into the senior District Courtrooms via windows that are positioned along the north and south exterior walls. Windows make the building seem less confining to visitors by allowing a view to the outdoors, and the natural light penetrating the interior has a refreshing effect. Due to the nature of the Family Law Center and the matters it addresses, user experiences have the potential to be extremely stressful. The building specifically addresses this by creating pleasant, light-filled, open spaces that ease anxiety and promote a safe and embracing atmosphere. At the same time, there is no doubt about the building s purpose it maintains the authority and seriousness appropriate for a legal institution and respects the gravity of the issues being addressed.

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