Mohave County
66,000 sf
Design Bid Build
Prime Architect
2020
$18M
Project Director
Project Manager
Adjacent to the iconic, historic courthouse constructed in 1914, the new building reflects Mohave County’s legacy and history while providing a modern, contemporary design that solves several challenges concerning security, technology, and future needs. The full project includes updates to the Historical Courthouse and Annex and a new, four-story Building for Mohave Superior Court.
By keeping the building form simple and selecting cost-effective, efficient, and timeless materials, the team successfully expanded the project scope without increasing the construction budget. The new building houses six courtrooms, one hearing room, jury deliberation facilities, attorney/client consultation, and detention facilities. The collegial style judicial suite features a large breakroom and breathtaking views of the Hualapai Mountains. Each floor level provides separate, secure circulation areas and elevators for the public staff, and in-custody transport.
Each courtroom includes a fully automated touch panel system that controls remote appearances, and evidence, and is directly controlled from the Judge’s bench and lectern. This same technology is incorporated into each judicial assistant’s office allowing a direct audio feed from any courtroom in the building to the witness rooms, holding cells, and robing rooms. Two courtrooms have a viewing window from the holding cells as well as windows from adjoining conference rooms that allow victims to view court proceedings in a secure area.
Addressing the community’s concern that the new building would overshadow the downtown area, as well as the site’s iconic Cyprus trees, the team worked to ensure the new building further accentuates the existing features and ties into its historical fabric by refreshing the landscape design in the courtyard, connecting all three buildings, and physically connecting them with a new glazed bridge. The entry rotunda embraces the past by providing framed views of the historical features located on the campus, the old Courthouse, historic jail, and World War II Memorial Statue, while providing queuing for security.