Court Facility Planning, Space Standards, and Functional Requirements
Court facility planning translates caseload and operational policy into a defensible building program. This exam tests whether you can derive space from workload, apply net/gross area conventions, and preserve functional separation among public, judicial, and prisoner zones.
Core rules and concepts
- Build the program from judges, hearing rooms, staff positions, and peak daily populations - not from a single benchmark.
- Distinguish net assignable area (usable room area) from gross building area (includes circulation, walls, structure, mechanical). Gross-up factors commonly run 1.35–1.65 depending on efficiency.
- Common net ranges: courtroom 1,800–2,400 sq ft; judge suite 700–1,000 sq ft; jury deliberation 400–600 sq ft; holding cell 80–120 sq ft; clerk workstations 60–80 sq ft.
- Separate three circulation systems: public, restricted judicial/staff, and secure prisoner. Cross-circulation is a design failure even when areas comply.
- Plan shell space and stacking for expansion; courts rarely shrink.
Worked example
A court needs eight judges, one courtroom each, plus two hearing rooms. Use 2,100 sq ft per courtroom, 900 per hearing room, 800 per judge suite, 500 per jury room. Net = 8×2,100 + 2×900 + 8×800 + 8×500 = 16,800 + 1,800 + 6,400 + 4,000 = 29,000 sq ft. At a 1.5 gross-up, gross ≈ 43,500 sq ft. Add secure holding and public lobby only after this baseline.
Traps that cost marks
- Treating gross-up as a fixed 1.4.
- Forgetting that holding cells and sallyports consume gross, not net, area.
- Copying another courthouse's room count without caseload validation.
- Ignoring ADA and egress area losses in renovation.