United States Courthouse, Mobile, Alabama
(Associate Architect for Moshe Safdie and Associates, Inc., of Boston, Massachusetts)

Sherlock, Smith & Adams is pleased to provide design services as Associate Architect for Moshe Safdie and Associates on the new United States Courthouse in Alabama's historic port city. Moshe Safdie and Associates provides the following description of the design:

"The building has a strong civic presence along St. Joseph Street, one of the principal north-south streets in downtown Mobile on which the existing John A. Campbell Courthouse also fronts, as well as along St. Louis Street, running east-west and connecting to the downtown retail area. The new Courthouse is entered at the corner of St. Joseph and St. Louis Streets via a large, glazed portico. The portico extends westward as a colonnaded arcade, accommodating a grand stair that rises to every level of the building. The colonnade curves gently around the two-block site encircling a cluster of mature, live oak trees along St. Louis Street. Proposed additional planting will extend this landscape to form a south-facing civic piazza in which the oaks, a reflective pool, and soft and hard landscaping will provide for an active community place.

"Though the General Services Administration has selected a two-block site for the development, the architect has respected the community wish that Conception Street, which bisects the site, remain a pedestrian path and an open visual corridor. The building bridges over Conception Street creating a pedestrian promenade towards the residential community northwards at street level. The principal block of courtrooms and support facilities to the south is complemented by a lower, smaller-scale series of pavilions accommodating the judges’ chambers to the north. Three-story-high garden walls echo the scale of adjacent residential buildings and enhance the building’s security, while nevertheless helping to define the urban street edge.

"The provision of natural daylight is a central theme in the building. The south-facing public spaces, generously shaded in response to Mobile’s severe climate and further protected by the live oaks, are complemented by a linear lightwell traversing the length of the building and providing daylight to offices throughout the building. All courtrooms are fitted with windows and/or skylights to enhance the environment and to create the appropriate mood.

"The palette of the building includes white, painted steel columns in the colonnade, clear glass with exterior sunshading, and light buff Alabama limestone cladding with matching pre-cast walls. Stainless steel roofs crown the individual courtrooms. The whitish palette, in the tradition of the regional architecture, complements and contrasts with the dark green oak vegetation."