Hidalgo County Interim Court
Additional Info
Award Winner : Ramtech Building Systems, Inc.
Architectural Excellence : When Hidalgo County decided they needed to renovate their existing courthouse, the primary concern was where they could find adequate interim space for daily operations. Located in Edinburg, TX, the work was expected to take 18-24 months. In addition to the space required for five courtrooms and offices, they also needed space for jury rooms, attorney conference areas and entrance foyers. Prisoner holding cells and sally-ports were also on the property making replication at another site unworkable. For these reasons the County decided to build 14,000 square feet of interim modular facilities located on the parking lot adjacent to the existing courthouse. The building’s interior provides a low maintenance facility with vinyl covered gypsum wallboard, suspended acoustical ceilings, and a combination of carpet and resilient tile flooring. The exterior utilized a synthetic stucco with a metal fascia band and incorporated a site built canopy for vertical articulation and sense of scale.
Cost Energy Effectiveness : Because the County's sally port and holding cell facilities for the prisoners were also at this location, a perimeter security system would have been extremely expensive and time consuming to replicate at a different location. So to minimize the expense and potential for costly delays, Hidalgo County made the decision to have three modular buildings installed on the northwest parking area adjacent to the existing courthouse. The functional layouts were constructed utilizing true modular construction, essentially a pier and beam construction that precludes the costs for steel chassis which act primarily as a shipping device. The buildings were also constructed as clear-span structures allowing the interior layouts to be reconfigured after the County's initial mission as interim courtroom space is complete. It is envisioned these buildings would be relocated and used by another county agency or department.
Occupied Date : 11/21/2012
Production Start Date : 10/3/2012
Project Location City : Edinburg
Project Location State Name : TX
Technical Innovation : Ramtech specified a .045 white TPO membrane roof (an Energy Star product). This reflective roof surface when combined with the building’s robust roof insulation value greatly reduced the energy consumption required for comfort cooling of the building. To address water reduction, dual action flush valves, automatic flushometers, and lavatories with metered self-closing valves were provided. High efficiency zoned split HVAC units were also installed. The building use places unusual demands on the equipment due to the infrequent high-occupancy loads during trial proceedings when over 250 individuals will gather in a space of only 2,000 sq. ft. The remainder of the time the court rooms are virtually vacant. To address this challenge, Ramtech incorporated CO-2 sensors and energy recovery ventilators to meter the flow of outside air matching the demand at peak and off-peak usage periods, allowing the HVAC units to modify the amount of outside air actually required rather than a fixed volume.
Total Square Feet : 14368