Mark Cavagnero Associates Architects

    • Projects
    • South Monterey County Courthouse
    Building Exterior
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    Building Exterior
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    Interior
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    • Overview

    South Monterey County Courthouse

    Status

    In Progress

    Client

    Judicial Council of California Administrative Office of the Courts

    Project Team

    Mark Cavagnero
    Laura Blake
    Brandon Joo
    Paul Davison
    Olga Luebker

    Project Collaborators

    MEP: WSP (Formerly Flack + Kurtz)
    Structural: Forell/Elsesser Engineers, Inc.
    Civil: Sandis
    Landscape: AECOM
    Lighting: Auerbach Glasow French
    Acoustics: Charles M. Salter Associates

    Description

    The South Monterey County Courthouse will be located in the City of Greenfield to serve the fast-growing central and southern regions of the Salinas Valley. The region is defined by its landscape grids of man-made agricultural fields, vineyards, and orchards. The valley’s proximity to the ocean and mountains to both the East and the West are great advantages for the site, where the climate is generally mild year-round and mountain views are abundant.

    The courthouse is comprised of a rectangular form that has a portion “sheared” away from the rest of the building. The “shearing” creates an open public space at the southwest corner of the site that relates to the entry of the City Hall.

    Programmatically, the “sheared” portion contains the most public functions of the courthouse – an entry court, and the lobby on the first level and the jury assembly room on the second level. The rest of the first level includes public counters, self help, clerk areas, and other support functions. The rest of the second level includes the three courtrooms, judicial chambers, and administration functions. The courthouse will be a two-story structure. Its overall height will be fairly low to be sensitive to its low-lying neighboring buildings, yet at the same time the building massing and design will be developed to express the dignity of the court.

    Location