Before a courthouse becomes a symbol or a skyline feature, it is first experienced as a place. As human geographer Yi-Fu Tuan observed, space becomes place through lived experience—through movement, memory, meaning, and use over time. 

Imagine a statewide courthouse portfolio spanning dozens of facilities including urban courthouses operating at or beyond capacity, smaller rural buildings with aging security infrastructure, and historic facilities carrying years of deferred maintenance. Each courthouse has a legitimate need, yet...

As a court planner, I always pause when beginning a project with a new architectural firm. One of the first questions is whether we’ll be able to conduct stakeholder interviews in our usual way—or whether the firm plans to rely on questionnaires.

I recently attended a gala at the historic Surrogate’s Court in New York City—a stunning Beaux-Arts landmark that, for an evening, transformed from a courthouse into a space for celebration and community. Standing beneath its grand arches and marble columns, I couldn’t help but think: why shouldn’t...

When visitors walk into a new courthouse, they often notice the grand lobby, the flood of natural light, or the sense of civic dignity that the architecture conveys. What they don’t see is the data analysis that shaped every square foot of that space.