The Roman L. Hruska United States Courthouse

Omaha, Nebraska

Inviting and accessible to all, the building satisfies the strict functional requirements of the federal courts while reinforcing the central importance of jurisprudence.

  • Civic & Institutional

The goal was to provide the federal court system with larger, more advanced facilities in downtown Omaha while stimulating the development of the surrounding central business district. Space requirements were developed by projecting court expansion over a ten-year period. The building thus opened with nine courtrooms and a wide range of court-related facilities, with the flexibility to house twelve courtrooms in the future. The four-square fenestration pattern echoes the interior organization, where courtrooms are arranged in quadrants around a central atrium.

Stats

  • Site

    3.67 acres, a two-block site in the central business district of downtown Omaha (site coverage: 1.37 acres)

  • Components

    336,000 ft2 / 31,000 m2 gross area; Court of Appeals courtroom, special proceedings courtroom, District courtrooms, magistrate courtrooms, bankruptcy courtroom, judges’ chambers, grand jury suite, jury assembly room, law library, pre-trial and probation services, offices for federal agencies; central hall; landscaped public spaces; surface parking

  • Client

    United States General Services Administration

  • PCF Services

    Architecture; exterior envelope; interior design of public spaces and courtrooms

The atrium rises above the roofline with a petal-like aluminum crown to shelter the courtrooms and celebrate the existence of a vital civic space downtown.

Rising seventy feet to a skylight and surrounded by galleries, the octagonal great hall is functionally and symbolically the public heart of the courthouse.

Project Credits

  • Structural

    DLR Group, Omaha, NE

  • Mechanical

    DLR Group, Omaha, NE

  • Courts Programming and Planning

    Gruzen Samton LLP, New York

  • Images

    Farshid Assassi, Timothy Hursley

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