Letter from the Chair

The AIA/AAJ Justice Facilities Review 2008
by Michael A. Moxam, OAA, MAA, FRAIC, Assoc. AIA, LEED® AP

We are very pleased to bring you the Spring 2008 AAJ Journal. As in previous AAJ Journals, we have reprinted key projects from the 2007 Justice Facilities Review. The six projects presented in this issue, in the areas of Courts, Law Enforcement, Multi-use facilities and Juvenile facilities, demonstrate the ever-increasing design quality achieved by these project types. Particularly notable is improvement in the ways in which these projects relate and contribute to their communities and the public realm. Also contained within this issue are some very interesting articles, covering topics such as water treatment in detention facilities and Denver’s new urban jail. We hope you enjoy these projects and articles, and as always we encourage your comments and input in the pursuit of an ever-improving AAJ Journal.

Enjoy!

Calendar of Events

Justice Architecture: Sustainability / Design / Delivery / Practice
November 5 - 8, 2008
San Francisco, CA

Join the AIA/AAJ in San Francisco where they will address a broad spectrum of issues that affect the planning, design and delivery of justice facilities. Through presentations that are related to the conference theme, conference participants will explore sustainability, design, delivery and practice.

News

Academy of Architecture for Justice Singles Out 28 Projects for Justice Facilities Review
Six Projects Cited for Excellence

The AIA Academy of Architecture for Justice (AAJ) selected 28 projects in March for publication in the 2008 Justice Facilities Review, six of which received citations for architectural and design excellence. The projects and their architects will be published in September 2008 and become part of a traveling exhibit that will tour the country throughout the year.
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Courts

Star Gazing
by Dennis Humphries, AIA

The selection of architects for the new Denver Justice Center was focused on retaining two highly acclaimed firms to design buildings that would engage in a dialogue with each other while also addressing the constraints of Denver’s historic Civic Center site. A member of the selection committee appointed by the Mayor who is also an architect and passionate civic leader reveals some of the highlights and lowlights in this star gazing process.
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JFR'07 Citation: Bronx County Hall of Justice
Brooklyn, New York

The glass curtain walls create two front-to-back architectural expressions, separate yet harmonious. These glass walls are elegant in their luminosity and play with sunlight. The building is complex, yet all spaces relate well to one another, generating the feel of simplicity. The public areas are particularly dramatic. The placement of the jury rooms immediately on the entry area impressed the jury. It expresses respect for and celebration of this critical facet of citizenship. The building’s relationship to the well-designed plaza also impressed the jury.

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Law Enforcement

JFR'07 Citation: Plymouth Public Safety Building and City Hall
Plymouth, Minnesota

The 2007 JFR jury was impressed with this elegant new addition. The well-crafted pergola at the entry presents a new stronger image yet manages to extend a more welcoming invitation to the public. The project philosophically and literally connects two disparate buildings into a unified whole in an exuberant manner. The jury also admired the architect's ability to maximize the site by burying the secured parking underground and maintaining the terraces that draw the surrounding landscape into the project.
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JFR'07: Colorado State Patrol, Castle Rock Prototype Facility
Castle Rock, Colorado

The state patrol facility is a preengineered metal building prototype design that will be sited in numerous locations throughout the state. The rural architectural aesthetic, limited budget, prototype repetition, and short construction season all reinforce the rational for selecting a preengineered metal building.
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Detentions/Corrections

Water Treatment Machines Prevent Trash From Escaping This Correctional Facility
by Alec Mackie

A large sewage screen and several shredders help keep the sewer system flowing at this 1,000-acre correctional campus in southwestern Massachusetts.
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Snohomish County Jail Expansion
Everett, Washington 

The Sonomish County Jail represents a unique and exemplary response to housing a major detention facility in the urban civic center of Everett, Wash. The glass rain skin transforms what would otherwise be an opaque, heavy institutional building into a light and transparent addition to the civic center, becoming a “good neighbor” to both adjacent county buildings and surrounding community.


Denver's New Urban Jail
by Lee Becker, FAIA and Steve White, AIA LEED AP

In 2005, the citizens of Denver voted to build a new judicial center that will expand Denver’s Civic Center campus two full city blocks to the west. It is easy to understand voting to build a new Courthouse with a parking structure, but why build such a large jail in the Civic Center, the symbolic public core of downtown Denver?
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Juvenile Facilities

JFR'07 Citation: San Francisco Juvenile Hall Replacement Project
San Francisco, California

The San Francisco Juvenile Hall Replacement Project 's design that followed the contour of the terrain and blended well with the neighboring residential areas was a tremendous response to the site. It also reduced the linear feeling, often found in such projects, and aided in creating a stimulating environment.
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JFR'07: Long Creek Youth Development Center
South Portland, Maine

Long Creek Youth Development Center was the result of a complete overhaul of the state’s juvenile justice system. The new center is on the original site of the 1853 Boys’ Training Center which was a campus design with dorms, cottages, and separate food service, administration, health care, education, and recreation buildings. The new facility houses living quarters and services under one roof.
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Multi-Use Facilities

JFR'07 Citation: Adams County Communications Center
Commerce City, Colorado

This building embodies an elegant restraint that at once elevates the building itself, while simultaneously being perfectly in tune with its mission. An L-shaped addition surrounds an existing structure with a hard skin, broken only twice, at front and rear to reveal the warm interior. Generous natural light is provided throughout the structure via secure clerestory windows, thereby enhancing the interior experience without reducing the security of the building.
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