Adams County Justice Center - Master Plan

Adams County commissioned Heery in 2007 to update the Justice Center Master Plan to prepare for growth anticipated at the 40-acre campus for the next 10 to 20 years. The justice center located near Denver International Airport is a new town center for Brighton, Colo., which is the county seat. Since its opening in 1998 unprecedented population growth in Adams County has outgrown the existing first phase six-story, 200,000 SF facility. This growth has also challenged the remaining capacity of the downtown county jail.

County officials required a multi-phased master plan for the campus that included an immediate courthouse expansion to meet its Phase II judicial needs and plan for a future 650-bed pre-trial detention facility on the south side. The pre-trial facility is anticipated to relocate short-term detainees from the county jail to the justice center during trial proceedings and free up as many as 650 beds - effectively extending the current jail capacity over a much longer period of time.

The pre-trial facility along with a 280-car parking structure for sheriff’s personnel are planned to start in the next 10 years. The structures are earth-integrated set into the south hillside and below the courthouse out of view. Heery answered Adams County’s commitment to responsible design by implementing green roofs and daylight monitors over the dormitory day rooms. A new central power plant that comes on line for the pre-trial facility will power the entire campus. Twenty-year projections include the final Phase III court wing addition and an adjacent 250-car staff parking structure that will closely replicate these earlier phases. The Phase II court expansion opened in Fall 2009.