Case Study | Justice: Wilson County Courts Facility

Over the years, the Wilson County governmental and judicial space needs exceeded the space available at the courthouse, which resulted in a decentralizing and occupying of three (3) facilities remote from each other. This decentralization created public confusion, staff and prisoner transportation inefficiencies, as well as increased operational cost. The goal of this project was the centralize the judicial system into one (1) multi-story facility and address current and future staff, space, and parking needs.

Securitecture and their architecture partner, KBJM Architects, operated as strategic planners for this project, beginning by organizing and coordinating the project effort, obtaining foundational information through questionnaires and data requests, and obtaining existing building and site plans. The Securitecture team then conducted strategic planning and a facility systems evaluation to understand the historical and potential future system trends. Through this phase of the project, they completed staff and space projection modeling and evaluated the existing space, operations, and inventory of the courtrooms. The Securitecture team then defined the ten (10) and twenty (20) year staff, space, and parking needs and hosted a workshop with all the users and stakeholders to determine the best means to address current needs. Upon completion of the workshop, the team then created preliminary design graphics, a total project budget, and drafted a project schedule and implementation plan.

The project defined Wilson County as an aggressive growth community with an anticipated population growth from the current population of 169,885 to 269,885 in fifty (50) years. With this projection, the Securitecture team defined future staff, space, and parking needs, and presented a preliminary design that defined a three-story judicial center of 125,461 s.f. with a fourth-floor gray box that could accommodate four (4) to six (6) future courts and related support spaces, which would also address available funding capabilities. The Securitecture team then outlined an anticipated two (2) year construction schedule and total project cost of $70–78 million, dependent upon selected alternates, for the county to use moving forward.