The Orrin G. Hatch United States Courthouse in

Salt Lake City Salt Lake City (often shortened to Salt Lake and abbreviated as SLC) is the capital and most populous city of Utah, United States. It is the seat of Salt Lake County, the most populous county in Utah. With a population of 200,133 in 2020, th ...

Utah Utah ( , ) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. Utah is a landlocked U.S. state bordered to its east by Colorado, to its northeast by Wyoming, to its north by Idaho, to its south by Arizona, and to it ...

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

is a federal courthouse located at 351 South West Temple Street in downtown Salt Lake City, on the corner of 400 South and West Temple.Keith McCord
Nearly completed federal courthouse designed to maximize security, natural lighting
KSL, September 13, 2013.Jim Dalrymple II

''Salt Lake Tribune'', April 20, 2014. It is located behind the

Frank E. Moss United States Courthouse The Frank E. Moss United States Courthouse (originally known as the United States Post Office and Courthouse) is a historic United States federal courts, United States federal courthouse and federal building in Salt Lake City, Utah. The courthou ...

. The building houses the

United States District Court for the District of Utah The United States District Court for the District of Utah (in case citations, D. Utah) is the federal district court whose jurisdiction is the state of Utah. The court is based in Salt Lake City with another courtroom leased in thstate courth ...

. It opened in April 2014. The courthouse was designed by

Thomas Phifer Thomas Phifer (born 1953 in South Carolina) is an American architect based in New York City. He is perhaps best known for his design of the Glenstone Museum expansion in Potomac, Maryland, the North Carolina Museum of Art in Raleigh, North Car ...

of the Thomas Phifer & Partners architectural firm in New York. While the courthouse has been named after US senator

Orrin G. Hatch Orrin Grant Hatch (March 22, 1934 – April 23, 2022) was an American attorney and politician who served as a United States senator from Utah from 1977 to 2019. Hatch's 42-year Senate tenure made him the longest-serving Republican U.S. senator ...

, locals have nicknamed it the "Borg Cube" after the

Borg The Borg are an alien group that appear as recurring antagonists in the ''Star Trek'' fictional universe. The Borg are cybernetic organisms (cyborgs) linked in a hive mind called "the Collective". The Borg co-opt the technology and knowledge ...

, the villainous alien race in '' Star Trek''.Joe Kemp
Gangbanger dead after being shot trying to attack witness in Utah courtroom: authorities
''New York Daily News'', April 21, 2014. The building's nickname was a reference to its cubical profile (the Borgs of ''Star Trek'' used cubical spaceships) and "austere aesthetic."

Design

The courthouse project took twenty years to secure funding and property before

groundbreaking Groundbreaking, also known as cutting, sod-cutting, turning the first sod, or a sod-turning ceremony, is a traditional ceremony in many cultures that celebrates the first day of construction for a building or other project. Such ceremonies are ...

took place in January 2011.Mark J. Shaw
New Federal Courthouse on Schedule in Downtown Salt Lake City
''ENR Mountain States'', December 24, 2012. Design for a new courthouse began as early as 1997, but security updates were added after the

September 11 attacks The September 11 attacks, commonly known as 9/11, were four coordinated suicide terrorist attacks carried out by al-Qaeda against the United States on Tuesday, September 11, 2001. That morning, nineteen terrorists hijacked four commer ...

in 2001, and Congress only appropriating funding in 2010. The total cost of the project was around $186 million; this is less than the original budget request of $211 million or $226 million. Ultimately, the funding delay allowed the courthouse to be built for less, because construction and material costs were lower during the

Great Recession The Great Recession was a period of marked general decline, i.e. a recession, observed in national economies globally that occurred from late 2007 into 2009. The scale and timing of the recession varied from country to country (see map). At ...

. Of the total cost, some $7.5 million was to purchase the Port O' Call bar. Some $6.7 million was to move the historic three-story Odd Fellows Hall hall to Market Street. Federal authorities worked for months with preservationists to secure the hall's transfer. Other buildings, including an old gas station, had to be razed for that the courthouse could get its required security perimeter. The project made extensive use of recycled materials and

landfill diversion A landfill site, also known as a tip, dump, rubbish dump, garbage dump, or dumping ground, is a site for the disposal of waste materials. Landfill is the oldest and most common form of waste disposal, although the systematic burial of the waste ...

; as the project neared completion, builders reported 86 percent waste diversion. The new courthouse houses many of the functions originally housed in the Frank E. Moss Federal Courthouse. The Moss Courthouse, a

Classical Revival Neoclassical architecture is an architectural style produced by the Neoclassical movement that began in the mid-18th century in Italy and France. It became one of the most prominent architectural styles in the Western world. The prevailing style ...

structure completed in 1905, underwent renovations in 1912 and 1932 and was added to the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic ...

in 1978. The construction of the new courthouse was prompted by needs for space, technology, and security in the Moss Courthouse. The new courthouse separates prisoner transport areas from hallways used by the public and staff; in the old courthouse, prisoners, judges, and members of the public shared the same hallways and elevators, presenting a security risk. The Moss Courthouse continues to house the U.S. bankruptcy court. The two courthouses are linked by an elevated landscaped garden. The AIA Institute Honor Award jury citation states that the new courthouse "stands respectfully beside" the Moss Courthouse and the two courthouses together "establish a distinct federal precinct and architectural anchor at the southwest perimeter of the downtown."

The new courthouse is "essentially one big cube with courtrooms at the corners." It is ten stories tall above grade and 409,397 square feet. The courthouse is 180 feet long, 180 feet wide, and nearly 200 feet tall. It has ten courtrooms (seven for district judges, three for magistrate judges), fourteen judges' chambers, and two underground levels for parking and building support. It also houses offices of the U.S. Marshals Service and the U.S. Probation and Pretrial Services office. The new courthouse also meets new federal building security standards; the courthouse is set back fifty feet from the street and includes blast protection features, including

progressive collapse Progressive collapse is the process where a primary structural element fails, resulting in the failure of adjoining structural elements, which in turn causes further structural failure. Progressive collapses may be accidental, as the result of d ...

design. The first floor has a public café, a

jury A jury is a sworn body of people (jurors) convened to hear evidence and render an impartial verdict (a finding of fact on a question) officially submitted to them by a court, or to set a penalty or judgment. Juries developed in England du ...

orientation suite, and an intake counter. The second floor is office space for the court clerk's office. The ten current courtrooms are on floors three, seven and eight. The fifth and sixth floors have additional space for nine more courtrooms to be created, if needed. The fourth floor contains offices. Judges' chambers are located on the top two floors. The courthouse has a modern style, and relies extensively on " daylighting." Many windows of clear glass, as well as a skin of

anodized aluminum Anodizing is an electrolytic passivation process used to increase the thickness of the natural oxide layer on the surface of metal parts. The process is called ''anodizing'' because the part to be treated forms the anode electrode of an electr ...

, allow the courthouse to make extensive use of

natural light Natural Light, sometimes Natty Light, is an American reduced-calorie light lager brewed by Anheuser-Busch since its introduction on July 31, 1977. Its ingredients are listed as water, barley malt, cereal grains, yeast, and hops. One serving c ...

in working spaces. All of the courtrooms were built against exterior walls to allow light to shine in. The courtrooms "occupy the four corners of the building, bathed in filtered natural daylight, bringing clarity and context to the proceedings within." The building contains a ten-story

atrium Atrium may refer to: Anatomy * Atrium (heart), an anatomical structure of the heart * Atrium, the genital structure next to the genital aperture in the reproductive system of gastropods * Atrium of the ventricular system of the brain * Pulmona ...

containing a ten-story suspended sculpture (composed of 380

hexagon In geometry, a hexagon (from Greek , , meaning "six", and , , meaning "corner, angle") is a six-sided polygon. The total of the internal angles of any simple (non-self-intersecting) hexagon is 720°. Regular hexagon A '' regular hexagon'' has ...

al tubes of optical aluminum on cables) by the glass artist James Carpenter. The courthouse also features two

reflecting pool A reflecting pool, also called a reflection pool, is a water feature found in gardens, parks, and memorial sites. It usually consists of a shallow pool of water, undisturbed by fountain jets, for a reflective surface. Design Reflecting pools are ...

s on the building's west side near the main entry. A smaller one is located to the south, while a larger one to the north runs the length of the building. The building earned

LEED Gold Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) is a green building certification program used worldwide. Developed by the non-profit U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC), it includes a set of rating systems for the design, construction ...

certification for

energy efficiency Energy efficiency may refer to: * Energy efficiency (physics), the ratio between the useful output and input of an energy conversion process ** Electrical efficiency, useful power output per electrical power consumed ** Mechanical efficiency, a ra ...

and

environmental sustainability Specific definitions of sustainability are difficult to agree on and have varied in the literature and over time. The concept of sustainability can be used to guide decisions at the global, national, and individual levels (e.g. sustainable livin ...

Reception

The courthouse's reception was deeply polarized. The building is described as shiny and sterile-looking or austere. The courthouse was praised by architects, who have called it "modern," "sophisticated," "elegant," "stunning," "sleek," and "cutting edge." Architects have praised the courthouse's "aspirational design," which uses extensive amounts of sunlight to reflect the values of transparency and fairness in the justice system. The AIA wrote that the courthouse's design "resulted from a search for a physical symbol to express the American system of justice—the form had to be strong, iconic, transparent, and egalitarian. The cubic massing of this courthouse captures all of these elements in a recognizable form that projects grounded

dignity Dignity is the right of a person to be valued and respected for their own sake, and to be treated ethically. It is of significance in morality, ethics, law and politics as an extension of the Enlightenment-era concepts of inherent, inalienable ...

and substantive order and presents an equal face to all sides."2015 Recipient Institute Honor Awards for Architecture, United States Courthouse, Salt Lake City, Utah

American Institute of Architects The American Institute of Architects (AIA) is a professional organization for architects in the United States. Headquartered in Washington, D.C., the AIA offers education, government advocacy, community redevelopment, and public outreach to su ...

. The AIA states that the transparency is tempered by "vertical aluminum sunscreens on the exterior ... with a variable protective veil that modulates quietly with the passing of the sun. Vertical fluting of these delicate elements refers subtly back to the classical orders of the Frank E. Moss Courthouse and to the broader traditions of the

judiciary The judiciary (also known as the judicial system, judicature, judicial branch, judiciative branch, and court or judiciary system) is the system of courts that adjudicates legal disputes/disagreements and interprets, defends, and applies the law ...

." The building won a 2015

(AIA) Institute Honor Award for Architecture. The jury citation read: :''This is a stunning project. The clarity of the building scheme and the way it relates to the surrounding context are impressive in a modern civic landmark.'' :''The skin is extraordinary, with the patterns and density of louvers responding to the solar orientation. Mirror-finished apertures frame the entry and views of the city and mountains beyond.'' :''Every space was done with care, simplicity, and great detail, emphasizing the importance of natural light. In contrast to the silvery exterior, the wood-clad interior is beautifully detailed and warm, including a monumental lobby stair.'' The popular reception of the courthouse was less favorable, with critics panning the building as "hideous," like the "Central Bureaucracy building from '' Futurama''," "a gigantic air conditioner compressor" and "something from 1950 Eastern Europe."

History

Just one week after the courthouse opened, criminal defendant Siale Angilau, 25, a member of the

Tongan Crip Gang The Tongan Crip Gang, or West Side 102st Tonga Crip Gang, is a street gang that is a subset of the Crips gang. The gang is active in the U.S. states of California, Utah and others, as well as a presence in New Zealand, Australia, and Canada. Tong ...

, was fatally shot by a deputy U.S. marshal after he grabbed a pen or a pencil and charged the witness stand in an attempt to attack a witness. Angilau was on trial for racketeering and other charges. This incident occurred in the courtroom of U.S. District Judge

Tena Campbell Marilyn Bernie "Tena" Gresky Campbell (born December 11, 1944) is an American jurist, lawyer, and former school teacher. She is a senior United States district judge of the United States District Court for the District of Utah. Education and ca ...

.Jack Healy
Defendant Killed by Court Officer at Utah Trial Man Dies After Being Shot at Federal Courthouse
''New York Times'', April 21, 2014.

Architects and contractors

The project's credits are: * Architect:

and Partners; Naylor Wentworth Lund Architects * Owner:

General Services Administration The General Services Administration (GSA) is an independent agency of the United States government established in 1949 to help manage and support the basic functioning of federal agencies. GSA supplies products and communications for U.S. gover ...

* Acoustics: Arup * Artwork, building enclosure: James Carpenter Design Associates *

Elevator An elevator or lift is a cable-assisted, hydraulic cylinder-assisted, or roller-track assisted machine that vertically transports people or freight between floors, levels, or decks of a building, vessel, or other structure. They a ...

s: Lerch Bates Associates *

Civil engineering Civil engineering is a professional engineering discipline that deals with the design, construction, and maintenance of the physical and naturally built environment, including public works such as roads, bridges, canals, dams, airports, sewa ...

: McNeil Engineering * Electrical engineering: BNA Consulting Engineers *

Mechanical engineering Mechanical engineering is the study of physical machines that may involve force and movement. It is an engineering branch that combines engineering physics and mathematics principles with materials science, to design, analyze, manufacture, an ...

: Van Boerum & Frank Associates *

Structural engineering Structural engineering is a sub-discipline of civil engineering in which structural engineers are trained to design the 'bones and muscles' that create the form and shape of man-made structures. Structural engineers also must understand and cal ...

: Reaveley Engineers & Associates * General contractor: Okland Construction * Graphics: Piscatello Design Centre * Landscape architecture: E. A. Lyman Landscape Architects * LEED consultant: CRSA Architecture *

Lighting design In theatre, a lighting designer (or LD) works with the director, choreographer, set designer, costume designer, and sound designer to create the lighting, atmosphere, and time of day for the production in response to the text while keeping i ...

: Fisher Marantz Stone * Pool design: Water Design Inc.

References

External links

Profile of the courthouse
from the

Profile of the courthouse
in May/June 2014 issue of ''Utah Construction & Design'' magazine {{coord, 40.7612, -111.8930, type:landmark_region:US-UT, display=title 2014 establishments in Utah Buildings and structures in Salt Lake City Courthouses in Utah Federal courthouses in the United States Government buildings completed in 2014