St. Tammany Parish Courthouse & Judicial Complex
Covington, Louisiana
Construction Cost: $14M
Completion Date: 2003
Located on the north shore of Lake Pontchartrain just outside New Orleans, Covington is the site for the new courthouse for St. Tammany Parish. The selection of this quiet bedroom community to house the new parish facility brought site and planning challenges not uncommon to the revitalization of small-town public spaces. The most significant was designing a 300,000 SF, multiple-use building to the appropriate scale related to the historic district setting, while maintaining the courthouse image and function required for such a facility.
The St. Tammany Parish Courthouse houses fourteen courtrooms, the operations of the District Attorney's office, the Sheriff's Office, the Parish Clerk's Office, Indigent Defenders' Office, Tax Assessor's Office and several other Parish departments. The driving concept for PGAL's design was to maintain the solemnity and civic presence of the judicial system, while incorporating the stringent planning and secondary considerations required by the facility's mix of uses. Because the new complex includes governmental offices in addition to the parish courthouse, one challenge PGAL faced was to provide the security required in a court facility and yet allow for public access to those functions not requiring this higher level of security. We resolved the issue by segregating nonsecure functions on the first floor and controlling access to all vertical circulation behind two secure access points. This along with appropriate stacking of court functions created a highly efficient layout that accommodates the various needs of the parish government and its citizens.
Scheduled for completion in 2003, the $42-million St. Tammany Parish Courthouse has two missions: to serve as a new governmental and public center for St. Tammany Parish, and to expand the current revitalization and rejuvenation of Covington's historic business district. The courthouse is designed to reflect the stability and conservative nature of the local government and to serve as the centerpiece not only for the City of Covington, but for the entire St. Tammany Parish.