As 2023 came to a close, Safdie Rabines Architects celebrated the completion of our long-running project, Imperial County Criminal Courthouse. Following a dedication ceremony and formal ribbon cutting attended by City officials in mid-December, the new courthouse is now open and serving El Centro and its surrounding community.
In designing the courthouse, SRA endeavored to express the importance of the building’s civic nature and equal access to justice. To balance functionality with aesthetics, the design uses warm materials and natural light, which creates a sense of peace and calm throughout four courtrooms, administrative offices, in-custody holding, and a jury assembly room.
The new courthouse is also largely influenced by the Imperial Valley’s extreme desert climate, and as such features two shaded courtyards to offer visitors and staff access to outdoor spaces without the need to pass back and forth through the secured premises. Within these courtyards and at the building’s exterior is a wide variety of native, drought tolerant plants. As written in this response to the new courthouse: “. . . rather than an ancient Greek temple rising elegantly out of the land to do justice, the new courthouse seems to be part of the landscape. Perhaps even belonging to it.”
Learn more about this recently completed SRA project here.