The new courthouse building reflects the area’s natural surroundings, taking its balanced massing and materials from the geological outcroppings and woodlands. Completed for $26.6 million in June 2014, the two-level building is one of only two recent courthouses completed in California that had no callbacks, no change orders and no items to fix or repair, experts note. Designers used building information modeling to carefully analyze the exterior high-performance design for solar performance on the LEED Gold-certified project. The team reconfigured a connecting tunnel and repurposed uncompacted soil from an adjacent courthouse property for site grading and drainage.

San Andreas Courthouse, Superior Court of California

San Andreas

Key Players
Owner Judicial Council of California
Lead Design Firm DLR Group
Contractor McCarthy Building Cos.
Structural Engineer Buehler & Buehler Structural Engineers
Civil Engineer Wood Rogers