As a courthouse planning consultant, I spend considerable time attending meetings and conducting on-site assessments in courthouses. I am never surprised by my consistently positive interaction with knowledgeable and conversant judiciary members. I am also never surprised by historical and...

This is the third and final installment in our series on applying Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) requirements in courthouse renovation projects. In the two previous courthouse accessibility posts, I discussed accessibility requirements as they apply to the main courthouse entrance and the...

In my last blog concerning courthouse accessibility, I discussed the challenge of reconciling accessibility requirements with historic preservation objectives at the main courthouse entrance. Today, I’m approaching a topic that is an even greater challenge for court planners and architects: the...

This is the first in a series concerning applying accessibility requirements in courthouses. I will begin by addressing reconciling courthouse entrance accessibility standards in courthouse planning with the preservation objectives and constraints posed by existing conditions in older historic...

In my previous blog on courthouse space reduction, I discussed how mobility and workspace sharing practices can be applied to probation and parole offices in courthouse planning. In this post, I will address the potential for reducing space in a clerk’s office. Although probation and parole offices...