Project Description
Sited on a bluff overlooking the Missouri River, the courthouse is the first building in a major redevelopment of the historic Missouri State Penitentiary. The curved form of the building’s entry facade embraces a landscaped green at the front of the court house, creating a civic place between the new building and the historic structure known as Housing Unit 1 which is scheduled for renovation as a museum. The “L” shape of the upper courtroom floors is concealed behind a screen wall of columns which, combined with the planted roof of the double height lobby, gives the sense of a garden room in the foreground of the view from the courtroom waiting spaces.
The river façade incorporates a trellised roof deck at the void between the two courtroom blocks, providing a recognizable visage of the courthouse when viewed from the major highway bridge into Jefferson City from the north.
