CREJ - Building Dialogue - March 2015

A Jewel of Justice: Pueblo Judicial Building Reflects Commmunity, History and Culture

The new Dennis Maes Pueblo Judicial Building, named after recently retired Chief JudgeC. Dennis Maes, is Colorado’s newest judicial building. This is one of the most significant civic structures in the Pueblo County and a jewel in the Colorado judicial system. DLR Group’s design replaces an aging 1960s courthouse, re-energizing downtown Pueblo’s commercial district, serving as a symbol of its earlier history and recalling its cultural heritage and vitality. The 182,350-square-foot, five-story building houses 17 district, county, ceremonial and first-appearance magistrate courtrooms along with Clerk of Court, jury assembly and judicial probation offices. The secure basement level also includes central holding and booking.

The Vision
For over 20 years, the combined courts of the 10th Judicial District of the state of Colorado and the Pueblo County Courts resided in a building ill-suited for judicial operations. Cramped and dark, the old facility lacked the flexibility and square footage to meet their expanding judicial needs.

“We outgrew the old facilities a long while back,” said Court Administrator Bobbi Griffin. “We added staff and new programs but we were not able to hire some available positions due to lack of adequate space. From a security standpoint it was unsafe. The public service windows were difficult to conduct business through and, when lines got long, they created crowd control issues in the main foyer,” Griffin added.

The site chosen for the project was a former ice house on the western edge of downtown, chosen by the courts, county and design team based on opportunity to link the Historic Downtown District with the River Walk District, improving the urban experience for the residents of Pueblo. This industrialized area, underutilized and discarded for several years, underwent significant environmental cleanup and mitigation in order to make it suitable for this new development.

Architectural Expression
In keeping with the goals set by the executive committee, the development of the architecture proceeded along two aims: • The architecture must celebrate citizenship in Pueblo County, tying the building not only to its place in time but also to the layers of history and culture unique to Pueblo.

• The architecture must express the dignity and honor appropriate to a judicial building, allowing the function of the building to speak for itself.

With these ends in mind, the design team delved deeply into ideas of regional materials, imagery and culture, balanced against the seriousness of what this building represents, connecting it to classical civic architecture and setting it apart from the more superficial aspects of our day-to-day commercial architecture.

Precedent and Imagery
The color palette of the building tells a story of local culture – a variety of subtle earth tones set against a brilliant, blue glass of curtain wall layered over the precast of the tower, represents the importance of water to the region as well as the Colorado State Water Court in Pueblo Metal panels strike a connection to the steel industry which economically powered Pueblo for most of the last century. In fact, more than 2.7 million pounds of steel were used in this building, according to the Pueblo contractor H.W. Houston Construction Co.

The rotunda is the centerpiece of this facility, acknowledging the kiva form of the Pueblo Indian culture as a unique precedent. This ceremonial space is surrounded with perimeter seating built into the walls, and in the center is an oculus in the roof – as would be found above a Native American fire pit. The skylight at the top is framed loosely in a basket-like design to filter the natural light, softening the space below.

This form and structure also evokes the railroad-era coke ovens sprinkled throughout this region.

PROJECT TEAM
ARCHITECT: DLR Group, Colorado Springs

CONTRACTOR: H.W. Houston Construction Co., Pueblo

MEP Engineering – RMH Group, Lakewood

STRUCTURAL ENGINEERING: MGA Structural Engineers, Colorado Springs

CIVIL ENGINEERING: Short Elliott Hendrickson, Inc.,Pueblo

LANDSCAPE ARCHITECT: Design Collaborative, Inc., DenverSecurity, IT – Technology Plus,Aurora

COST ESTIMATING: Cumming Corp., Littleton


Sustainability
The Pueblo Judicial Building not only includes many sustainable features and energy-efficient design strategies, but also is pursuing LEED Silver certification through the U.S.

Green Building Council program. The following are a few of the sustainable design elements:

Sustainable Sites. This site required brownfield cleanup and careful development of density and community connectivity. It provides access to alternative transportation by proximity to local existing bus lines and incorporates secure bicycle storage on site.

Water Efficiency. The design includes drought-tolerant native plantings in the landscape design and incorporates ultralow-flow fixtures throughout the building. This helps reduce the amount the fresh water withdrawn from local rivers and reservoirs and reduces maintenance and life-cycle costs. To improve storm water management, a below-grade retention system and permeable pavers in the parking lot reduce runoff.

Energy & Atmosphere. High-efficiency HVAC units and alternative methods of energy reduce energy loads needed to run the facility. Further energy reduction is realized through commissioning the energy systems, eliminating harmful refrigerant chemicals and adding building-integrated photovoltaics.

Materials & Resources. Local, high-recycled content and rapidly renewable materials were used wherever possible. A strict construction waste management plan helped minimize the amount of waste going from the job site to the landfill.

Indoor Environmental Quality. Specifying materials and products with less harmful chemicals, increasing ventilation, incorporating daylighting, and giving the end user control of their environment achieved a high indoor environmental quality for user health and well-being.

One-hundred-twenty state employees call this building home. Additionally, approximately 1,800 citizens visit the building each day, with annual projection of nearly 450,000 visitors per year. The entire building speaks to the unique history and culture of the community.

“It’s a flagship building in every sense, from the rotunda, which amazes people when they enter, to the natural light in all of our workspaces,” said Griffin. “There is a new sense of pride when people come to work or come to use the services of this building.” This is indeed a jewel of justice in the Colorado court system.