Justice taking shape

Demolition signals progress on jail-courthouse-plaza complex

Rocky Mountain News

Saturday, May 19, 2007

The slow demolition of the old Rocky Mountain News building and the growth right behind it of a new post office and parking structure signal one thing: the new Denver Justice Center is becoming a reality.

The design for the jail has been fairly firm for weeks, though architects are still refining details at Hartman-Cox of Washington, D.C.

The courthouse, though, has gone through numerous changes - some of them major. It's been a bumpy ride, from a design by Steven Holl to the current one by klipp, which is due to submit its final design development drawings May 29.

Two years after voters approved $378 million in bonds for the project, the many elements of the Denver Justice Center are coming together, in terms of the courthouse, jail and the plaza in between. Here's an update.

A. Jury assembly room

The jury assembly room, a diamond- shaped form that appears to grow out of the courthouse, has shifted from two stories to one. A café is no longer included, though the architects envision seating to the south. The jury room began as an egg-shaped form separate from the building, but has morphed into a structure connected to the courthouse with an open face toward the plaza.

B. Plaza facade

The courthouse's glass facade on the plaza is in a folded-plate format, split into two angles and extended at the base to wrap around the jury assembly room to give it a wall of glass. The architects at klipp propose high-performance clear glass. The glass wall will appear to peel away in layers to indicate a three-part building assemblage: a base, a middle and a top. The glass walls represent transparency, and, when lighted at night, serve as a beacon. The facade curves around to create an edge for the plaza, and lines up with the axis created along Tremont Place. The building, which has grown taller in the center, includes two green roofs with low-water plantings: one on the jury assembly room, and one serving as a terrace at the fourth-floor level. The goal is to reduce the building's impact as a heat island, as well as to help in the treatment of water runoff.

C. Plaza

The space that both separates and unites the courthouse and jail is still being designed. The oval area is being made smaller, but will include a lane for cars to enter off Colfax Avenue, even though the emphasis is on pedestrian traffic. The Percent for Art piece by Dennis Oppenheim will be located on the south end of the plaza: a 50-foot-tall assemblage of "petals" that form a chamber and seating area, perhaps including a water feature. Its width and breadth still are under discussion.

D. The western wall . . .

(facing Fox Street) has changed dramatically over the months and now includes an entry on Fox and a vertical glass element to be lighted at night. The latest iteration of the design includes a free-floating perforated aluminum screen that will cover about 75 percent of the building. It will serve as a sunscreen and a device to make the building appear more prominent from Speer Boulevard. Windows will be limited in number, with glass covering only about 10 percent of the facade.

E. Jail entry

The entry of the jail from the plaza has evolved from a rounded overhang and loggia with single columns to a rectangular form and double columns. Floors in the public lobby area will be terrazzo incorporating ground granite from the old Rocky Mountain News building.

F. Jail stonework

Architect Lee Becker envisions using two kinds of limestone to create contrast on the building, both on the side facing the plaza and courthouse, and that on Delaware Street. He wants the bulk of the building to be chat-sawn Indiana variegated limestone, that is, sawed with coarse chat sand in a way that reveals more color in the stone. Bands, or belt courses, used as accent would be rusticated Indiana buff limestone, to match cast stone lintels on the windows. The facade toward the courthouse will appear more open, with more windows than on the Delaware Street side.