Photo by Brian Addison.
Downtown Long Beach’s Governor George Deukmejian Courthouse has been given the honor of being named the Best Public Project by the Los Angeles Business Journal.
According to the award’s description, the $340M building—designed by architectural firm AECOM—marks the nation’s first major civic project developed as a public-private partnership (P3). The basic tenet of the P3 concept is that private developers provide equity—hence the quality design even amidst public funding droughts—while the public sector makes payments. Despite questions of cost being raised about the project as well as questions regarding the true efficacy of whether or not P3 projects benefit the public in the way they are advertised, the courthouse has been praised for not only its P3 model, but also its modern design aesthetic and adherence to silver LEED standards.
The new courthouse replaces the 56 year-old former courthouse at Ocean and Magnolia. A masterful example of mid-century modern architecture when it opened in 1958, the court soon fell into disarray, with seismic issues and lack of space poisoning workflow and efficiency.
Completed in September of last year, the 531,000 sq. ft. building features 31 new courtrooms, with expanded judge’s chambers and jury deliberation areas. Five county justice agencies also occupy 100,000 sq. ft. of the building.
This adds yet another honor to the building’s list of recognitions. The most recent honor came earlier this month as the developers and designers of the courthouse were recognized in New York City by Engineering News Record for the Best Global Project in the Government Buildings category. The building has also received honors from the American Institute of Architects, the Construction Management Association of America, Bond Buyer Magazine, and Euromoney/Project Finance.
Two other Long Beach projects were also recognized: Sares-Regis Group Pacific Pointe South development along Conant Street was recognized as the Best Industrial Project while the Long Beach Senior Arts Colony at Anaheim and Long Beach Blvd. was named the Best Multi-Family Project.
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