Federal Dollars Stimulate Austin Court Project
AUSTIN, Texas — Construction of Austin’s federal courthouse will proceed six months ahead of schedule after the General Services Administration allocated $116 million in stimulus funding.
The $107 million, seven-story building, designed by Atlanta-based architectural firm Mack Scogin Merrill Elam, will incorporate four district courtrooms, three magistrate courtrooms, one special proceedings courtroom and jury assembly facilities. Austin architects Page Southerland Page provided design consulting services.
The approximately 212,000-square-foot building will also provide space for offices of the U.S. Attorney and Marshals Service, district clerk, public defender, probation and pretrial services, and the GSA.
The courthouse is designed to meet LEED Silver certification standards and will leverage views of the nearby state capitol building, lake and countryside. Local limestone will dominate building exterior, which also incorporates a glass curtain wall and metal paneling.
The main entrance and lobby, situated on the east side of the building, are designed to connect the courthouse structure and judicial functions with the surrounding civic environment. The interior public space will be anchored by a two-story atrium that extends to the third floor.
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The project team also included local firms Architectural Engineers Collaborative and the Center for Maximum Potential Building Systems, and landscape architects Hargreaves Associates of San Francisco.
Austin-based White Construction Co., which was awarded the construction management contract for design and preconstruction phase in March 2004, will construct the cast-in-place concrete structure.
The GSA allocated an additional $9 million in stimulus funding to cover related project costs, including on-site project management services. GSA officials expect to issue White with a notice to proceed by the end of July. With groundbreaking tentatively set for August, the project is scheduled for completion by spring 2012.