The Raleigh County Judicial Center in Beckley, WV has received an Merit Award for Achievement in Architecture from the West Virginia Chapter of the American Institute of Architects. The project was completed by Silling Associates, Inc. of Charleston.
The new Raleigh County Judicial Center is located on a tight urban infill site at the main intersection in the center of the downtown of Beckley, WV. The intersection marks the convergence of the historic 1936 Raleigh County Courthouse, the Robert C. Byrd Federal Courthouse designed by Robert A. M. Stern, and the new Raleigh County Judicial Center.
The design of the new Judicial Center responds to the urban context addressing the intersection with a clock tower/vertical circulation component on axis with the pedestrian walk and courthouse green-space. The building edge is directly adjacent to the city sidewalk bordering both significant elevations. The long west elevation features a colonnade relating to a similar feature in the federal courthouse and allows site-lines for pedestrians and vehicular traffic to the historic county courthouse to be expanded upon arrival to the city center. The architectural expression takes its cues from both courthouses. The fundamentals of building massing, proportion, rhythm, scale, materials, and fenestration are extracted and integrated to relate to, yet establish, a new identity for the new facility.
In making an enormous commitment from the Raleigh County Commission to expand and modernize the county’s court facilities, the new Judicial Center successfully completes the judicial square in the heart of “uptown” Beckley and serves as an exceptional “model” for other counties within the state.
Silling Associates is an award-winning architectural and interior design firm located in the former Daniel Boone Hotel (405 Capitol Street) in downtown Charleston.
