State officials overseeing construction of the planned $145 million Mendocino County Courthouse are pushing back against harsh local criticism of its design.
In August, when preliminary renderings of the new courthouse were retrieved and published from the Judicial Council of California website, county residents were derisive of depictions of a stark white three-story courthouse ringed by dark vertical sections enveloping windows around the building’s exterior.
Critics lambasted the design as resembling a “bar code,” looking more like a prison than a civic center.
They also questioned plans calling for the new courthouse to face East on a 4.1-acre site on the south side of Perkins Street at the historic railroad depot. That means the building will turn its back on Ukiah’s core downtown to the West where a courthouse has been located since 1860.
State and local court officials were stung by the local criticism and offered a follow up conference call to explain the decision making, and what factors influenced the final design. Architect Kahyun Lee, a 15-year-veteran of public building design, agreed to a second interview this week.
While input from city and county officials, and the public, is solicited, it is the Judicial Council of California that oversees financing, designing and awarding contracts for courthouse construction statewide. After years of delay, the Mendocino County Courthouse project is at the top of a state priority list.
The new courthouse will be constructed on a narrow north-south parcel which limits how it can be positioned, said John Kudrycki, principal project manager for Fentress Architects, the Colorado-based firm that is a project partner with builder Hensel Phelps Contruction Co., a global firm founded in Colorado in the 1930s.
Kudrycki said as a result the rear of the new courthouse will be butt up against existing railroad tracks. The site was purchased by the state in 2012 from the North Coast Railroad Authority.
“To be able to provide access, public parking in front, and staff parking to the south of the building, we were limited in its placement,” said Kudrycki.
Robert Shue, project manager for the Judicial Council of California, toured Mendocino County with architect Lee before plans were put on paper. “We believe the design incorporates the best of the county,” he said.
Lee said their onsite research included Mendocino County’s courthouse history, the influence of the county’s agricultural base including inland vineyards, and rugged coastal landscapes that attract visitors worldwide.
Lee said, however, it was a walk among towering ancient redwoods in Montgomery Redwoods State Natural Reserve west of Ukiah that provided major design inspiration.
Lee recalled a lingering sense of awe the first time she witnessed shafts of sunlight piercing through the redwood forest canopy.
“It was a sensation I had not experienced before. I wanted to learn more,” said Lee.
Lee’s further research led her to the term “shivelight,” a 19th century descriptive first used by English poet Gerard Manley Hopkins. It described a clear shaft of sunlight piercing the canopy of a forest.
“It was the light in the forest that really moved me,” recalled Lee. “I wanted to bring that sensation into the interior public spaces of the new courthouse.”
The shafts of sunlight she witnessed at Montgomery Woods became the inspiration for her decision to place narrow widths of windows across the front and around the walls of the three-story courthouse.
“I wanted to evoke the experiences Mendocino County residents enjoy walking in the redwood forests,” said Lee.
Lee said the overall effect will be enhanced by landscaping at the new courthouse site where trees will grow tall, and native plant species will carpet the grounds.
“I believe that when the project is completed, the new courthouse will reflect Mendocino County, and what its citizens want in public buildings,” said Lee.
Kim Turner, executive officer for the Mendocino County Superior Court, has worked closely with the Judicial Council on the new design. Turner said she and the judges are satisfied.
“We understand how the architects were struck by the way sunlight comes through the redwoods. We know these filtered shafts of light create interesting shadows and provide a sense of movement in the forest,” said Turner.
Turner said the exterior design of the building is “intended to replicate the verticality of the redwoods, with shivelight coming through the interior public corridors.”
“We believe the architects have done a masterful job of incorporating a sense of Mendocino County’s appreciation for its beautiful redwood forests into the design of the building,” said Turner.
With the planned landscaping, Turner said the trees, grasses, pollinators and groundcovers outside will “complete a design that honors the heritage and environmental diversity of Mendocino County.”
Construction of the 81,169 square foot building is slated to begin early next year, with completion expected in late 2027.
The Fentress/Hensel Phelps team is the state's designated design-builder for the single largest civic construction project in Mendocino County history.
A bit of a strained rationalization, but at least understandable. It’s the exterior appearance that is off-putting.
Maybe texturing the facade to approximate redwood bark? Makes as much sense and would be consistent with the shivelight idea.
In any event, once done, we’ll get used to it like all the other contemporary concrete boxes.
Thanks for your input. We’re not changing a damn thing. Never have. Never will. Not for you. Ever.
those trees in this picture do not look like redwood trees, hopefully they will get that corrected when the plant them