First Ontario PPP courthouse heritage renovation completed $250 million Elgin County project designed to achieve LEED Silver standards The $250 million Elgin County Courthouse in St. Thomas, Ontario has opened. NORR designed the three- storey building in close collaboration with heritage archi- tects Fournier Gersovitz Moss Drolet et Associés Architectes (FGMDA). EllisDon operated as general con- tactor for the project. The Infrastructure Ontario public- private partnership project (PPP), the first of its kind for a heritage renovation, includes design, construction, fi- nancing and maintenance. Construction began in June 2011 on the site of the his- toric Elgin County Courthouse, originally built in 1853. The work consolidated the Superior Court of Justice and On- tario Court of Justice, formerly in separate locations, to modernize the courthouse and provide better accessibil- ity. The building has eight courtrooms and three confer- ence settlement rooms. A heritage courtroom has been maintained from the original building. The north and west elevations, dome and copper roof and masonry and sculptural detailing from the original structure have also been conserved and restored. A modern addition connects the heritage courthouse and a former Land Registry Office which has also been refurbished. The addition adds 135,000 sq. ft. of new space. David Clusiau, NORR’s senior principal, architectural design, says the challenges in maintaining and incorpo- rating the old with the new were numerous but worth the effort. “We had to insert modern mechanical systems and technology into the heritage building in as invisible and unobtrusive a manner as possible,” he said. “We also needed to bring the heritage building up to standard with regard to new security processes and accessibility re- quirements.” The design also needed to accommodate the different 26 – Summer 2014 — The Canadian Design and Construction Report circulation/access requirements for the public, accused, and judicial officials. Clusiau said the design team created an addition to enhance the original buildings, supporting and compli- menting heritage elements, while meeting LEED Silver standards. He says the design has achieved all of these goals in a way that is interesting and engaging. “Aside from the public atrium at the heart of the new addition and the as- sociated public circulation system that provides views out to the surrounding landscape and adjacent heritage courthouse, one of the interesting elements of the proj- ects is the inclusion of a programme of heritage plaques around the site,” he said. “The multiple storey one in the main atrium as well as the display case of historical arti- facts that all add another layer of interest onto the already architectural layered site.” The design needed to be flexible, as the project will serve the community for at least three decades. Clusiau says this has been achieved through the addition of two additional courtrooms on the third floor and adaptations to the existing courtrooms. “We made modifications to the millwork, creating a two-sided crest that can be flipped for use by either the Ontario or Superior Court as needed.” Sight N Sound Design, a design build audio visual con- sultant, installed the audio visual systems, including evi- dence presentation, voice enhancement, audio recording, video conferencing, remote testimony facili- ties, and control systems. Sight N Sound president Ken Lewis says his company specializes in complex projects. Before this project, they were also involved with the Waterloo Courthouse and the Quinte Courthouse. “One element that is unique to these courthouses is the integration of legacy video and the new digital format into courtroom evidence presentation