Wayne L. Morse United States Courthouse - Design

Design

The finished building reflected two major influences: Judge Hogan had wanted a more traditional courthouse, similar in style to the United States Supreme Court building, while architect Mayne pushed for a modern glass and steel structure. Though opposed at first to each other's design thoughts, the two worked together to incorporate elements of each person's ideas. After years of working on the design process, including 25 revisions, the two compromised on elements with Hogan responsible for pushing for a set of steps leading to the main floor on the second level as well as the feel of the courtrooms. While Mayne had a reputation as an architect of confrontation and dislocation, this was one of three GSA Design in Excellence programs he had worked on with the artistically conservative federal government. Regarding them, he said: “Obviously, those are buildings that require negotiation. I couldn’t be too bad.”

The completed design resulted in a curving structure standing five stories tall with 266,742 square feet (24,781.1 m2) of space. The bottom two floors are covered in glass and house offices, while the top three floors are covered in ribbons of steel and primarily house courtrooms. Three pavilions rise from the main structure to create these upper floors where the six courtrooms are located. Each of the top three floors have two courtrooms; two for the judges of federal district court, two for magistrate judges of the court, and two for the bankruptcy court, with these courtrooms spread out amongst the pavilions; two per pavilion and all on the third floor. Chambers for the judges are located above the courtrooms and include a seventh chamber for a visiting judge. On the same level as the judge's chambers are two law libraries for the court. The three floors featuring the courtrooms are joined to the rest of the building via the 85-foot (26 m) tall atrium. Located on the second floor is the jury assembly room, which when not in use by the court is used as exhibit and meeting space.

The courtrooms vary from as large as 3,000 square feet (280 m2) to as small as 1,500 square feet (140 m2) and are in a pear shaped design. Designs for the courtrooms were partly based on the courtrooms of the Bordeaux Law Courts in France. The jury box is recessed and does not resemble a traditional jury box. The courtrooms feature ribbons of wood panels on the walls in rooms that narrow as they reach the bench at the front. The wood is primarily cherry with walnut accents. Natural light is let into the courtrooms from small opening in the walls. Videoconferencing is available in the courtrooms.

In addition to the natural light from the atrium and skylights, the building is further illuminated inside by lightboxes and screens that are part of the artwork. Other interior details include steel mesh, a courtyard at the center, panels of stainless steel, pillars with burnished steel, and a parts of the United States Constitution on the wall. Also, the areas leading into the elevators have clear panels in the floor, and the main staircase is also constructed partly of transparent materials, with the steps made of gray slate. The exterior ribbons of stainless steel also extend into the lobby of the building.

The exterior features a large set of stairs that leads from the street level to the main entrance on the second floor. This 240-foot (73 m) wide grand entrance also serves a security function of reducing the chance of a car bomb reaching the main entrance. Other security measures in the design include the underground parking and setting the courtrooms back from the street. The facility was designed as a Security Level IV facility by the government. Other exterior features include structural elements left exposed along with portions of the curved metal skin that extend out from the building. Mayne, the building’s architect, stated that it was “the language of the ribbon” to describe the exterior design.