Wayne L. Morse United States Courthouse

Today, the architecture of justice drifts away from symbolic iconography; courtrooms are routinely located in generic office towers indifferent to the gravity of the judicial process. The Eugene Federal Courthouse seeks to challenge this trend by expressing the courtrooms as discrete object buildings or pavilions—a reference back to the earlier traditional single room courthouse model. Ribbons of steel envelop three primary courtroom pavilions, articulating the movement sequence between. Waiting areas and public corridors connect the courtroom pavilions and provide views to a central courtyard art installation.

Building a contemporary courthouse demanded the reconciliation of two seemingly discordant needs: security and performance. The project posed a unique challenge to the design team: create a building that unites the implied densities of security (thickness, rigidity, separation) with essential values of our country's legal system (functionality, transparency, clarity). The design implements innovative strategies to provide building security within a living, breathing, organic design vernacular wrapped around performance features: a dramatic, ecologically-sensitive transformation of the site; extensive glazing for natural light and connectivity; energy and water-saving systems and fixtures; and an architectural expression of judicial presence at a human scale.