LOS ANGELES SUPERIOR COURT – AIRPORT BRANCH

DESCRIPTIVE DATA

Project No. 6            Los Angeles Superior Court –Airport                                    Branch
Architecture Firm                                                                 of Record:                Mosakowski Lindsey
Design Firm:            Ellerbe Becket
Completion Date:     2000
Role of Nominee:     Principal Designer / Studio Director /                                    Project Designer

This 9 story, 200,000 sf Los Angeles Superior Courthouse is designed for the potential build-out of 20 Courtrooms and related Judicial Chambers. Initially, the Court has 12 Courtrooms and the space for the future Courtroom expansion is used by other related court office functions. The basic design is for a 4 court per floor linear layout with a clear separation of public and private circulation on the north and south sides of the building. The building is very strongly massed and fenestrated to represent the court functions and public accessibility. The central, patterned pre-cast concrete clad rectangle houses the courtroom functions. The glazed public circulation on the northeast façade allows public viewing of the LAX Airport flight activity while waiting between court sessions, while the bowed frontal punched southwest façade of the Judge’s Chamber offices is oriented to the views of Palos Verdes and the Pacific Ocean. 

The plaza entry level has a central two story galleria that connects the north and south building entries and accesses the two level Clerk and Marshal functions while providing a single security screening point for access to the upper court floors. The lower level houses the Sheriff’s holding cells and bus sally-ports for security for the daily prisoner traffic from the County Jail. 
The building exterior façade cladding is highly visually representational to the enclosed use. The northeast façade is visually open for public access, viewing, and light solar heat gain, while the southwest façade has deeply recessed shaded glass for more controlled and confined views from private offices. 

This public building has a strong iconographic presence as it expresses its use to the larger public at the highly visible southwest corner of the I-405 and I-105 freeway intersections at the south entry to LAX Airport.

AWARDS RECEIVED      

                 2005 National AIA Academy of Justice                                  Architecture
                 Certificate of Merit Award

PUBLICATIONS:        

                 Academy of Justice Architecture Publication