The United States Federal Courthouse of Minneapolis represents the dignity and purpose of the Judiciary through a restrained and elegant architectural design that connotes strength, simplicity, and respect.
Consciously avoiding traditional architectural motifs such as columns, pediments, and other symbols which have come to represent the power of the state, KPF’s design responds with an architectural language rooted in modern civic classicism. The design resolves the problem of housing the diverse and discreet functions of a modern court facility, while achieving an appropriate monumentality that is scaled to the surrounding context.
Occupying most of a city block in the center of the county government corridor, the overall mass of the building is pulled away from the Minneapolis City Hall across Fourth Street to form a generous public plaza. Principal building components are asymmetrical and arranged in an overlapping fashion, with the curving façade of the courthouse giving shape to the plaza.
Program requirements directed the design of the new building with public galleries, two courtrooms per floor, and shared central prisoner elevators and holding cells. Interior finishes include cherry veneer paneling and millwork, muted carpeting, acoustic wall and ceiling treatment, and direct/indirect lighting. Separate and distinct circulation systems are created for the public, judges, and prisoners with support and security functions below the courtrooms. The low-rise Federal Building houses tenant office space and administrative court offices. Pre-security functions also include a cafeteria and congressperson’s office, among others.
Composed in warm, precast concrete panels counterbalanced by clear low-E insulated glass and anodized aluminum curtain wall, the tower makes a dynamic and powerful architectural expression. The low-rise portion is designed to reinforce the street wall of the Third Avenue corridor as it moves from the government center to the river. The base is clad in red granite to impart visual continuity with the entire government district.
