As a court planner, I often must explain my programming approach when determining the size of a courthouse. Courthouses are inefficient buildings, and this is intentional. Therefore, it is not possible to calculate the size of a courthouse the same way as an office building.  

In this blog, I will...

I have noticed an upward trend in the number of cities and towns attempting to combine their court systems into one courthouse. Courts often do so because they are housed in underperforming facilities or fragmented across several locations. To solve this problem, it seems that the most prudent...

In a previous blog, I discussed the importance of establishing the architect and owner’s roles and responsibilities during the space programming phase of courthouse design. However, the process of project planning, designing, and constructing a building has many phases. I'd like to further the...

In my last blog, I talked about strategies that contribute to a successful courthouse planning effort. These strategies include conducting client interviews, recommending specific courtrooms and other office and support spaces, and defining all space sizes and requirements using design guidelines...

In the architectural world, the practice of developing space requirements for a project is known as space programming. It is done during the pre-design phase and provides the baseline space requirements for a construction project. The programming process involves a combination of conducting client...