The John Joseph Moakley United States Courthouse is a federal

courthouse A courthouse or court house is a building that is home to a local court of law and often the regional county government as well, although this is not the case in some larger cities. The term is common in North America. In most other English-spe ...

for the

United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit The United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit (in case citations, 1st Cir.) is a federal court with appellate jurisdiction over the district courts in the following districts: * District of Maine * District of Massachusetts ...

and the United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts, located on Fan Pier on the

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...

Massachusetts Massachusetts (Massachusett: ''Muhsachuweesut Massachusett_writing_systems.html" ;"title="nowiki/> məhswatʃəwiːsət.html" ;"title="Massachusett writing systems">məhswatʃəwiːsət">Massachusett writing systems">məhswatʃəwiːsət'' En ...

waterfront. Named after

Congressman A Member of Congress (MOC) is a person who has been appointed or elected and inducted into an official body called a congress, typically to represent a particular constituency in a legislature. The term member of parliament (MP) is an equivalen ...

Joe Moakley, the building was completed in 1999 at a cost of $170 million and has won many design awards. The courthouse is served by a stop on Boston's Silver Line. It was also formerly served by MBTA Boat service.

Details

The courthouse serves as headquarters for the

and the United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts. The building houses two courtrooms for the Court of Appeals and 25 courtrooms for the District Court, as well as 40 judges' chambers, a Circuit law library, the office of a

United States Congress The United States Congress is the legislature of the federal government of the United States. It is Bicameralism, bicameral, composed of a lower body, the United States House of Representatives, House of Representatives, and an upper body, ...

man, offices for the

United States Attorney United States attorneys are officials of the U.S. Department of Justice who serve as the chief federal law enforcement officers in each of the 94 U.S. federal judicial districts. Each U.S. attorney serves as the United States' chief federal ...

, extensive support facilities for the

United States Marshals The United States Marshals Service (USMS) is a federal law enforcement agency in the United States. The USMS is a bureau within the U.S. Department of Justice, operating under the direction of the Attorney General, but serves as the enforce ...

service and Pre-Trial and Probation services, as well as a day-care facility. The building, clad in water-struck brick with granite trim, has ten floors above grade and one below.Pei Cobb Freed & Partners
/ref> It was the first major project to be awarded as part of the United States Court Design Guidelines and incorporates

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 ...

's goals for imparting dignity and social significance, while creating modern and innovative justice architecture. Public access to the courtrooms is provided through a sequence of spaces — Entrance Hall, Rotunda, Great Hall, and Galleries. Twenty-one large-scale paintings were commissioned from

Ellsworth Kelly Ellsworth Kelly (May 31, 1923 – December 27, 2015) was an American painter, sculptor, and printmaker associated with hard-edge painting, Color Field painting and minimalism. His works demonstrate unassuming techniques emphasizing line, c ...

and are installed in these areas. The courtrooms themselves are distinguished by a motif of large arches defined by wood moldings and stenciled ornament. The sub-basement houses an ice storage air conditioning system which uses half-price electricity at night to freeze water, which is then used to cool the courthouse during hot days. This saves an estimated $1.5 million per year, and helps load-balance the regional electricity grid.What Moakley Courthouse's Old-School Cooling System Could Teach Us About Energy Storage
/ref>

Design team

* Design Architect – Henry N. Cobb and Ian Bader of Pei Cobb Freed & Partners, New York * Interior Design – Pei Cobb Freed & Partners, New York * Executive Architect – Jung Brannen Associates, Boston, Massachusetts * Structural Engineer – LeMessurier Consultants,

Cambridge, Massachusetts Cambridge ( ) is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. As part of the Boston metropolitan area, the cities population of the 2020 U.S. census was 118,403, making it the fourth most populous city in the state, behind Boston, ...

General Contractor A general contractor, main contractor or prime contractor is responsible for the day-to-day oversight of a construction site, management of vendors and trades, and the communication of information to all involved parties throughout the course of ...

– Clark Construction Group, Inc * Mechanical/Electrical Engineer – Cosentini Associates LLP,

New York, New York New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

* Courts Design Consultant – Gruzen Samton,

* Landscape Architect – OLIN,

Philadelphia, PA Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Since ...

, and Carol R. Johnson & Associates,

Design awards

* 2000

National Endowment for the Arts The National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) is an independent agency of the United States federal government that offers support and funding for projects exhibiting artistic excellence. It was created in 1965 as an independent agency of the federal ...

: Presidential Design Awards: Federal Design Achievement * 1999

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 s ...

: District of Columbia Chapter: Award of Merit * 1999 Dupont Benedictus Award for Innovation in Architectural

Laminated glass Laminated glass (LG) is a type of safety glass that holds together when shattered. In the event of breaking, it is held in place by a thin polymer interlayer, typically of polyvinyl butyral (PVB), ethylene-vinyl acetate (EVA), lonoplast polyme ...

* 1999 Saflex Safe & Sound Award: First Annual Award for the Use of Laminated Glass in Design * 1997

/ Brick Institute of America: Brick in Architecture Award * 1997

: Honor Award for Design

References

External links

Moakley Courthouse brochureEmporis listing
* {{Authority control Courthouses in Boston Federal courthouses in the United States Boston Harbor Landmarks in Financial District, Boston Government buildings completed in 1999 1990s architecture in the United States Jung Brannen buildings 1999 establishments in Massachusetts

Details

Design team

Design awards

See also

References

External links