2025 West Best Projects
Best Government/Public Building, Excellence in Safety: Clackamas County Circuit Courthouse
Clackamas County Circuit Courthouse
Oregon City, Ore.
BEST PROJECT, GOVERNMENT/PUBLIC BUILDING, and Award of Merit, Safety
Submitted by PCL Construction Services Inc.
Owner Clackamas County
Lead Design Firm DLR Group
General Contractor PCL Construction Services Inc.
Civil Engineer Harper Houf Peterson Righellis Inc. (HHPR)
Structural Engineer DCI Engineers
MEP Engineer OEG
Landscape Architect Cameron McCarthy Landscape
Facilities Management (Operations and Maintenance) Honeywell
As a replacement for an outdated, overcrowded and seismically at-risk facility built in 1936, this new courthouse represents a transformative $230-million investment in the state’s justice system. Completed on time and within budget in May 2025, the 250,000-sq-ft facility features 16 courtrooms, secure circulation pathways and co-located offices for local law enforcement to consolidate critical functions under one roof for the first time.
This is also Oregon’s first courthouse to be delivered using a public-private partnership. This funding structure allows the county to deliver the project without raising taxes while transferring life-cycle performance risk to the private sector over a 30-year term.
Photo courtesy DLR Group
One of the team’s earliest challenges was integrating diverse and sometimes competing needs of multiple tenant agencies into a performance-based design. An intensive weeklong user workshop series with multiple daily sessions helped the project team with real-time decision-making that allowed the design to develop while maintaining both the budget and schedule.
Late in the project, newly elected officials requested that a historic 1,500-lb vault door from the 1936 courthouse be preserved and installed in the new lobby. Although this was not part of the original scope, within six weeks the team completed structural engineering, secured city approvals, brought on a specialty subcontractor and completed installation without impacting the occupancy date.
Photo courtesy DLR Group
The project team logged more than 688,000 work hours without lost-time or recordable incidents. Safety-specific initiatives elevated engagement and accountability across all trades, including a safety sighting program that empowered every worker to identify hazards, near misses and safe behaviors in real time. A Safe Worker of the Month program celebrated individuals who modeled exemplary safety practices, helping build a positive, peer-driven safety environment.
Photo courtesy DLR Group
Meanwhile, Pro-Bel fall protection systems were integrated into the building envelope, and forklift proximity sensors were installed in service corridors to minimize risks during daily use.
