Articles

Oregon Courthouse Obtains LEED Gold

By CN Staff

PORTLAND, Ore.—CGL Companies recently announced that the Multnomah County Central Courthouse (MCCCH) has achieved LEED Gold certification from the United States Green Building Council (USGBC).

The MCCCH Project Team sought to integrate sustainable solutions into every aspect of the courthouse design. The team collaborated with Multnomah County and Portland Gas and Electric to find a way for the photovoltaics on the Courthouse to bypass the building and ‘plug’ into the adjacent drawbridge, allowing them to fully utilize the power the courthouse generates and offset the energy costs for the bridge. They also specified innovative vacuum plumbing systems to maximize water efficiency, collaborated with the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality to acquire Environmental Product Declarations for the structural concrete, and adapted an existing historic structure on the project site into the courthouse complex.

Congratulations to the County and the Project Team, which included:

– Owner: Multnomah County Facilities & Property Management Division
– Architect of Record: SRG Partnership
– Courts Design: CGL Companies
– General Contractor: Hoffman Construction Company
– Owner’s Representative: Day CPM
– Landscape Architect: PLACE
– Civil Engineer: MAZZETTI | BHEGroup
– Structural Engineer: KPFF
– Mechanical Engineer: Interface Engineering, Inc.
– Electrical Engineer: PAE Engineers
– Consultant: Studio Petretti Architecture
– Consultant: Architectural Resources Group

At 17 stories and 464,700 square feet, the new LEED Gold-certified Multnomah County Central Courthouse debuted in the fall of 2020; it is not only much larger than its eight-story, 295,400-square-foot predecessor, but also far better equipped to endure the strength of earthquakes expected in the area over the next 50 years.

Creating a seismically safer courthouse was one of the main drivers behind the new facility. The old courthouse, located just four blocks away, was built 106 years ago and lacked the structural safety and space necessary to properly support the growing population of Multnomah County.

In addition to providing the structural safety that the old courthouse lacked, the venue was designed to be a better, more efficient experience for both visitors and staff. The layout of the new courthouse allows for more consistent traffic flow and more efficient queueing areas, as well as separate spaces for judges and courthouse staff, offering each judge their own courtroom and rooms for attorneys and clients to discuss in private.

The riverfront courthouse is full of daylight and located on a riverbank that serves as the gateway to downtown Portland; it also features a grand, central stairway that can be seen through double-height glass, providing the public with breathtaking views of Mt. Hood.