"The Fall River Justice Center project came in on-time and on-budget, and has resulted in a highly functional and efficient courthouse as well as a great civic presence and focal point for Main Street in Fall River. The design is simple, elegant and well-detailed, is easy to maintain and looks as good today as it did when it was completed."

Elizabeth Minnis, AIA, former Deputy Commissioner, DCAMM

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COURTHOUSE DESIGN APPROACH

Site Planning

‍A hallmark of Finegold Alexander’s work across all sectors is our decades of expertise with challenging urban contexts and complex sites. For buildings that serve the public, we place particular emphasis on civic presence and access, to ensure each design meaningfully reflects and serves its community.

Visioning Sessions

We work collaboratively and diligently to synthesize our client’s goals into meaningful design solutions. We believe ideas are derived from the dialogue between owner, agency, architect, consultant, and user, grounded in context and informed by experience. This process uncovers what is valued from the past, responds to present needs, and anticipates future aspirations. By listening, observing, distilling, and refining these collective insights, we create buildings that reflect those values.

Program Right Sizing

Working collaboratively with our clients, we right-size programs by applying our experience within budgetary, operational, and physical constraints. Minimizing or optimizing space, while accounting for future growth in both existing and new buildings, is essential. Best practices and emerging court-planning trends are also evaluated to address adjudication styles, operational issues, security, flexibility, and technological considerations.

Design Flexibility & Cost Control

Our design team finds creative ways to accommodate future growth by designing flexible spaces such as Mediation Suites within courtroom structural bays. This approach allows the building to respond to evolving caseloads by enabling these spaces to be converted into future courtrooms.

Sustainable Design

‍Finegold Alexander is dedicated to the creation of high performance, sustainable buildings. We work with clients to identify and quantify benefits and costs through an iterative lifecycle assessment analysis that evaluates first costs, operating expenses, and returns on investment. We test solutions by conducting sensitivity analyses, which incorporate replacement and long-term maintenance costs and identify strategies that have multiple benefits for the least cost.