The American Institute of Architects selected four federal courthouses to highlight this year in its publication, Justice Facilities Review. Two of the courthouses—the U.S. Courthouse in Alpine, Texas (Western District of Texas), and the Wheeling, West Virginia Federal Building and U.S. District Courthouse (Northern District of West Virginia)—also received citations for architectural and design excellence.

A jury of representatives from justice, architectural, and government sectors selected winning projects for the Review that “demonstrate quality of form, functionality, and current architectural responses to complex justice design issues.”

U.S. Courthouse
Alpine, Texas
Western District of Texas
Architect: PageSoutherlandPage
General Contractor: W.G. Yates & Sons Construction Company, San Antonio

(click to enlarge) Federal Courthouse in Alpine, Texas

The architect called the U.S. courthouse in Alpine, Texas, “a very particular response to the extraordinary quality of the local landscape, the harsh climate of West Texas, and the specific mission of the occupants of the courthouse.”

The jury noted how the project “incorporates security, climatic mitigation strategies, and local materials in a design solution that is grounded in the surrounding landscape. The dry-laid local stone walls, simple landmark entry rotunda, horizontally oriented wood detailing, and clear organization of the building components around an exterior courtyard all contribute to this relationship with the site.” The design uses a courtyard and an exterior covered walkway as the primary circulation and organizational device, instead of an air-conditioned interior route.

Bill Putnicki, clerk of court for the Western District of Texas, and Facilities Design Project Manager Sonia Hogeland are both pleased with how well the building relates to the local area.

“The building is not your traditional courthouse, yet it fits right into the Alpine, Texas, esthetic,” said Hogeland. “They used a lot of indigenous materials and the stone looks just like a mountain a half mile from the site.”

Putnicki is happy to finally have room for judges, staff, and probation and pretrial services offices in one building. Previously, they had been spread between several buildings with a magistrate judge’s chambers in a shopping center. The court, according to Putnicki, already has a high volume of drug and immigration cases, and will probably see more cases as the local U.S. Attorneys office, the Border Patrol, ICE, and DEA move additional personnel into the area.

Next, Wheeling Federal Building and U.S. District Courthouse