Many gasped in disappointment as builders began cladding the new federal courthouse on Niagara Square with heavy concrete panels. We had been promised a shimmering glass building. Was this a bait and switch? Had cost cutting sliced the life from the building? We were assured that the building is still destined to have a curtain of sparkling glass cladding.
The dramatic curving main shaft of the building has been designed as a double wall. The inner concrete wall has smallish windows of varying sizes grouped in multiple compositions. On top of this will be mounted strips of frameless glass panels that will appear to float from the building surface. The concrete inner skin is almost certainly a response to the 9/11 attacks and the Oklahoma City federal building bombing. Since these tragic events, guidelines for the design of federal facilities have been developed to inhibit the effects of terrorist activities.
The
double wall concept in this building is an interesting response to codes, which
could easily result in an overly heavy and unfriendly building. Will it
succeed? It's been hard to tell as we've waited patiently for the glass
panels to start going up. Well, the wait is over. Now, you can get
a sneak peak at the proposed cladding system on the south end of the building
site near Delaware Avenue. Workers have erected this full-scale mock-up
of the curtain wall, showing all the relative details including the glass. One
other odd element included in the mockup is the detail scheduled for the base
of the building as it touches the ground. I say odd because the building
base will be composed of a somewhat folksy looking stone wall. Not
exactly what you would expect from this boldly modern building. Even
after seeing this glass mock-up the jury is still out in my mind. Although the
glass has an obscuring translucent fritting at portions of its surface, it
still seems a bit too clear to overcome the heavy concrete backing. I hope they
plan on lighting the inner surface of the wall at night. It could become
a spectacular lantern on the skyline. I can't wait to see more.
When is this building expected to be done?
New Buffalo fed courthouse to be completed in (late) summer 2010.