Eduardo Castro was project manager for the structural and blast engineering design of the new 10-story, 262,000-square-foot federal courthouse that occupies a one-block site on the northwest corner of historic Niagara Square. The structure is defined by an elliptical drum, curved public galleries, entry pavilion, and vertical elevator tower crowned with a glass lantern. The entry pavilion, at the height of the City Hall portico, compensates visually for the 50-foot security setback and separates the public entry from the tower mass for optimal security. A “veil” of transparent and patterned fritted glass planes is suspended on the precast skin.
The building houses the U.S. Marshals Service; nine magistrate and district courtrooms occupy the top five stories. Located in a designated Local Preservation District, facing two art deco buildings, the 1931 City Hall and 1936 Michael J. Dillon U.S. Courthouse. The design won a GSA award as “an unpredictable solution to the seemingly irresolvable, disparate condition of the site’s dynamics.”
