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 The
York County Judicial Center is designed to house multiple judicial
and law enforcement agencies serving the County of York, Pennsylvania.
Constructed in the County of York, Pennsylvania, it replaced the
existing courthouse, which is a magnificent historical structure
more than 100 years old.
The new judicial center contains 330,000 SF and consists of a
basement plus seven stories and a penthouse. The basement, in addition
to
secured parking for employees, includes a fully-functioning core
area providing prisoner processing, holding cells, a central computer
room, secured elevators, and a locker room/fitness center for
County Deputies. Primary mechanical and electrical equipment systems
are
also housed in the basement and include the central chilled water
plant, hot water heating plant, domestic water pumps, electrical
switchgear, and motor control centers. The Emergency Generator
and Transformers are located at grade, adjacent to the Loading Dock.
The building is unique in its design approach; the basic floor
plan for the first through fourth floors is substantially different
from
the fifth through seventh floors. The first through third floors
contain typical office spaces which house county services to include:
Clerk of Courts, Sheriff’s Office, Public Records, Domestic
Relations, Adult Probation, Clerk of Orphans, Public Defender’s
Office, Juvenile Probation, and the District Attorney’s Office.
The fourth floor provides a Law Library, Jury Assembly Area, and
multiple Hearing Rooms. The fifth floor will not be built-out for
tenant occupation initially but is planned to house multiple Courtrooms
similar to the sixth and seventh floors. These floors will have
a total of six Courtrooms each and include Judge’s Chambers
and Clerk Offices. All seven floors are an integral part of a
central Atrium with a full glass fascia provided on the top four
floors.
The diverse nature of county functions are reflected in the architecture
of the building. It provided unique challenges in designing
MEP systems to suit the facility. The basement area required confinement
type ventilation systems to segregate the occupied core area
from
vehicular traffic exhaust, which includes diesel fuel powered
prisoner transport buses.
In addition to vehicular exhaust, fire hazards and refrigerant
gas exposure associated with the central utility plant required
additional confinement ventilation measures. Both the central
hot water heating system and the chilled water system were designed
for high-energy efficiency. Both systems employ a variable volume
pumping system utilizing variable speed motor drives for optimum
energy consumption and load matching. The chilled water variable
speed motor drives are matched with two speed cooling towers
located
on the roof.
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