Fort Myers United States Courthouse and Federal Building
Fort Myers United States Courthouse and Federal Building
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The Context
The Fort Myers United States Courthouse is located in downtown Fort Myers on First Street within a low density area. To facilitate the transition between the small scale buildings and the new large scale courthouse, a broad exterior staircase was designed to indicate the significance of the Courts to all those who pass as well as to create a transitional element.
The building contains one Special Proceedings Courtroom, one District Regular Courtroom, one Magistrate Courtroom, one Bankruptcy Courtroom as well as the offices of the U.S. Marshals, the Clerk of Court, Probation, and Pretrial Services. Designed by Spillis, Candela and Partners, the design process began in 1992. Four years later, construction began in 1996, with the official opening in 1998.
The Building
The building was designed around the concept of efficiency. With two courtrooms per floor, the program was divided in section, as the high traffic programs lay on the lower floors and the courtrooms occupy the higher floors.
The exterior walls of the building were built in precast concrete. The building¿s windows are double glazed in aluminum frames. The main lobby and public areas are all finished in drywall and wood paneling with marble flooring. Within the courtrooms, the walls were correspondingly finished in both painted drywall and acoustical panels with stained wood wainscot and trim moldings.
While the current build out of the Courthouse provides enough courtrooms for the existing jurisdiction, future expansion options were designed into the built form, as adequate ceiling height has been provided to permit the construction of one District Courtroom and one Magistrate Courtroom with the relocation of existing tenants to another building.