The $245-million Duval County Unified Courthouse Facility in Jacksonville, Fla., is a seven-story, 800,000-sq-ft concrete-framed building with a facade of precast concrete panels and glass. The building contains 51 courtrooms, more than 70 judicial offices and space for court administration, clerk of courts and corrections.
Before foundation work started, the team discovered that the city had not completely updated the as-built documents for the site's underground utilities after they had been relocated based on an earlier design for the building. That version of the project had been ultimately rejected in favor of the current design by KBJ Architects.
As a result, the Turner Construction-led team found that major communication duct banks, shown in the documents as being located in the easement, actually encroached upon the new project's footprint. Instead of moving the duct banks again, the team shifted the building footprint 20 ft to the east and 5 ft south. Construction began in 2009. Another shift came much later in the project when a credit union and a cafe became tenants. The team had to make design changes quickly without extending the schedule.
The facility has received LEED-Silver certification from the U.S. Green Building Council, making it the largest LEED-certified building of its type in the U.S and the second-largest LEED project in Florida.
Award of Merit, Government-Public Buildings
Duval County Unified Courthouse Facility, Jacksonville, Fla.
Key Players
Contractor Turner Construction Co., Jacksonville
Owner City of Jacksonville, Department of Public Works
Architect KBJ Architects, Jacksonville
Structural Engineer McVeigh & Mangum Engineering, Jacksonville
MEP Engineer TLC Engineering for Architecture, Orlando
