T.B. Penick & Sons, Inc. has been awarded the design-assist structural package on the high-end architectural concrete Bakersfield Federal Courthouse project in Kern County. The contract, valued at just under $3.5 million, was let by the General Services Administration as part of a $5.5-billion initiative under the federal Recovery Act to convert federal buildings into high-performance green buildings and build new energy-efficient federal buildings.

San Diego-based Penick will partner with Gilbane Building Co. of San Jose, the general contractor, and NBBJ Architects of San Francisco and Los Angeles on this design-build courthouse project. Design work has begun and the project is slated to be completed within seven months.

The Bakersfield Courthouse will house one Magistrate Court and chamber, the district clerk’s office, U.S. Marshalls Service, U.S. Pretrial Services, and U.S. Probation.

Through innovative design and new green technologies this new courthouse will save taxpayer dollars through the building's energy efficiency. The project is expected to achieve at least a LEED silver certification and is a step toward modernizing the nation’s infrastructure, reducing the federal government’s consumption of energy and water, and increasing use of clean and renewable sources of energy.