The Sandra Day O'Connor United States Courthouse is a
courthouse at 401 West Washington Street in
Phoenix,
Arizona
Arizona is a U.S. state, state in the Southwestern United States, Southwestern region of the United States, sharing the Four Corners region of the western United States with Colorado, New Mexico, and Utah. It also borders Nevada to the nort ...
. Pursuant to , enacted by the
United States Congress
The United States Congress is the legislature, legislative branch of the federal government of the United States. It is a Bicameralism, bicameral legislature, including a Lower house, lower body, the United States House of Representatives, ...
, it is named after
Sandra Day O'Connor, who served as an
Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States
An associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States is a Justice (title), justice of the Supreme Court of the United States, other than the chief justice of the United States. The number of associate justices is eight, as set by the J ...
from September 21, 1981, to January 31, 2006.
Description
The building is home to the
United States District Court for the District of Arizona, and also hosts Circuit Judges
William C. Canby Jr.;
Michael Daly Hawkins;
Mary H. Murguia;
Mary M. Schroeder;
Andrew D. Hurwitz;
Barry G. Silverman;
Bridget S. Bade and
Roopali Desai of the
United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.
Built at a cost of $123 million
and dedicated in October 2000, the building was championed by Senior United States District Judge
Robert C. Broomfield. It was designed by architect
Richard Meier,
[Santos, Fernanda (August 4, 2012).]
"Where Indoors Can Become Too Much Like Outdoors"
''The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...
'' (via the ''Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
The ''Pittsburgh Post-Gazette'', also known simply as the PG, is the largest newspaper serving Greater Pittsburgh, metropolitan Pittsburgh in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania. Descended from the ''Pittsburgh Gazette'', established in 1786 as the fi ...
''). Retrieved August 6, 2012. with local executive architects of Langdon Wilson Architecture in Phoenix. The building is in Meier's signature monochrome style. Standing six stories tall, it encompasses more than . The building's public
atrium features a six-story glass
curtain wall on the north face, and contains a drum-shaped special-proceedings courtroom with a glass-lens ceiling, the work of
James Carpenter, an American
light artist and designer. There is no public parking.
Climate-control problems
Although part of the
General Services Administration's initiative to bring design excellence to public buildings, the building has been plagued with climate-control problems with its
evaporative-cooling system. Temperatures in the atrium have been known to reach in the summer, and the ceiling was open to
dust storm
A dust storm, also called a sandstorm, is a meteorological phenomenon common in arid and semi-arid regions. Dust storms arise when a gust front or other strong wind blows loose sand and dirt from a dry surface. Fine particles are transpo ...
s, but now motorized louvers prevent infiltration during storms.
See also
*
2000 in architecture
*
List of United States federal courthouses
References
* Meier, R. & Frampton, K. & Rykwert, J. & Holl, S. (2004). ''Richard Meier Architect''. New York City:
Rizzoli International Publications, Inc. Page 174. .
{{Authority control
2000 establishments in Arizona
Buildings and structures in Phoenix, Arizona
Courthouses in Arizona
Federal courthouses in the United States
Government buildings completed in 2000
Richard Meier buildings
United States District Court for the District of Arizona