Harris County Civil Justice Center sets a new standard

The Harris County Civil Justice Center enhances the downtown Houston skyline as beautifully as any commercial building located in the heart of the fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States. The precast concrete, glass exterior, and its dome and cupola create an updated rendition of a courthouse of old.

The team of PGAL and Walter P Moore met the client’s ambitious expectations to build a structure that consolidates far-flung courts, creates a central court system core campus, and creates flexibility now and into the future. These requirements had to be deftly incorporated into the 10-year Harris County Courts Master Plan. The Harris County Civil Justice Center is the second building to be completed in the implementation of that plan, following the Harris County Criminal Justice Center’s completion in 1999.

The 660,000-square-foot landmark building was delivered to the 3.5 million citizens of Harris County in 2006 through the team’s successful melding of architectural aesthetics, structural integrity, and state-of-the-art technology.

The dome safely took shape

In keeping with the grand design of courthouses of the past, the architect proposed a 17-story structure featuring a rotunda and a cupola as a focal point. The four-story (61 foot) architectural dome and cupola, which combined have a maximum diameter of 107 feet, proved to be the greatest design and engineering challenge. The dome is believed to be the biggest cast-in-concrete dome constructed in the past 50 years.

Safety was a primary concern in the design and construction of the huge dome structure. The general contractor, Vaughn Construction of Houston, along with the formwork subcontractor and the design team, worked closely to create a highly complex scaffolding system to safely support the construction of the 16 primary structural dome rib beams and "pie" infill slabs. Formwork for the rib beams was assembled off-site and scale models were incorporated to explore options for tying the formwork together on the project site. According to Vaughn Construction’s Project Manager Danny Thompson, examining the various options for assemblage of the formwork was "like playing with an erector set." The complexity of the scaffolding support structure was such that the time required to disassemble the scaffolding system was longer than the time needed to cast the concrete for the entire dome structure.

Casting the curved rib beams, which utilized lightweight concrete, was carefully planned to avoid a load unbalance condition on the scaffolding network. Four beams were cast at a time in a measured sequence to keep the structure’s weight balanced as construction progressed. Rib beam concrete pours were scheduled with 5-foot vertical lifts to help effectively manage the casting process on all sides of the dome. After the rib beams were complete, opposing pie slabs were cast two at a time. The pie slabs were reinforced with conventional reinforcing steel and shotcreted, because the lower 15 feet of the slabs were nearly vertical. The slabs were cast in 7-foot lifts to further avoid load unbalancing during that part of the construction. Anchor points were incorporated into the construction of the rib beams. This facilitated easy reinforcing steel tie-in for the pie slabs as it was placed, so the pie slabs and the rib beams were tied together. Once the structure was completed, an attractive metal-panel covering system was attached to finish the dome.

The rotunda

Similar to the signature dome, the design and construction of the rotunda at the base of the building also posed several interesting challenges. In order to allow the massive rotunda to remain column-free and true to the architect’s vision, two, 75-foot-long, full-story-height transfer girders were designed at level four of the building. These girders used conventional reinforcing and post-tensioning to support the columns above the rotunda for the remaining height of the building. Further complicating the construction, the transfer girders were situated as such that they were part of two different pours in the planned pour sequence, thus requiring additional pour strips to be incorporated.

The scaffolding network required to support the construction of the rotunda nearly rivaled that required later in the project to construct the crowning concrete dome. More than 70 vertical feet of shoring was required to shore from level four of the building down to the basement level. At the basement, load was transferred from the shoring system to the mat foundation through grade beams that were designed to eliminate potential punching shear issues at the mat.

Flood prevention

The Houston area’s unique flooding problems were a critical design consideration. Tropical Storm Allison dropped record amounts of rainfall across the greater Houston area in June 2001, flooding much of the city. Therefore, the building is designed with flood protection to an elevation of 41 feet above sea level, including a series of flood walls and flood doors located near the entrance to the garage. Critical building systems were elevated strategically above the basement and street levels to mitigate damage to ongoing operations during a flood event and to maintain operations in the event of an emergency. The flood protection is the first of its kind for a Harris County building.

Economy without compromise

Even though the building was completed at an economical $102 per square foot, careful design and implementation ensured that finishes and the quality of materials used in construction were not compromised. Steps taken to contain costs included installing the drop drywall ceiling using a suspension system, which reduced costs by 40 percent over a conventional drywall ceiling. The resulting 660,000-square-foot structure consolidates the courts’ functions and accommodates 37 courtrooms, various specialty courtrooms, district and county clerk offices, and expansion space for additional courtrooms.

The postmodern design features precast concrete panels with notched corners and punched windows and curtain walls. The interior boasts rich applications of limestone, granite, and wood veneers, as well as terrazzo and stainless steel accents. The exterior’s buff color complements the other main building in the Harris County Courts Complex, the Criminal Justice Center. Both buildings anchor prominent corners of the courthouse square and centralize the courts system in downtown Houston.

The geographic consolidation of the courts allows jurors and counsel to access the buildings within steps of each other. Access is further enhanced through the downtown tunnel system that now connects the court buildings. These new tunnels allow staff, visitors, and jurors protected travel among buildings.

Technology brings flexibility

Technological features of the building include 13 elevators—including two private elevators that provide judges secure access to court suites directly from a secure parking area—and a vertical transport system for files. The vertical transport file system was designed to centralize files on a daily basis from clerk’s offices on lower floors. This eliminates the need for file storage on each floor, creates routing and retrieval capabilities for files being sent to specific courts, and allows for files to remain secure. State-of-the-art evidence presentation technology includes centrally controlled courtroom video systems with multi-touch panel interfaces, jury boxes with LCD flat panel monitors, and drop-down projection screens that allow viewing by courtroom occupants.

Flexibility of the space, circulation, and zoning were critical components of the design, as well as provisions for current and future technology. Measures to adequately address security concerns were put in place to minimize disruption and maximize visitor access.

Conclusion

The Harris County Civil Justice Center improves the civic life of thousands of citizens who use the justice system every day. The project team’s designs, planning, and efforts—including an emphasis on aesthetics, engineering innovation, technology, and safety—were appreciated by the client. The impressive building with its trademark gold dome sets a new standard for government buildings. To quote Project Director of the Downtown Division of the Harris County Public Infrastructure Department Rich Elwood, "This state-of-the-art building is truly a symbol of justice."

Muhammad A. Cheema, P.E., is a principal with Walter P Moore. He can be reached at 713-630-7300 or mcheema@walterpmoore.com. Jeffrey P. Gerber, AIA, is president and CEO of PGAL and can be reached at 713-622-1444 or jpgerber@pgal.com

Design & Construction Team

Project name: Harris County Civil Justice Center
Owner: Harris County, Texas
Architect: PGAL, Houston
Structural engineer: Walter P Moore, Houston
Contractor: Vaughn Construction, Houston