Maricopa County Courthouse

This downtown architecturally clad hi-rise court tower is comprised of 439 precast concrete pieces. One of the challenges of the project was the panel breakup which yielded very large panels, some as large as 40’ x 16’. To help control stresses in such large panels, prestressing strand was used to keep these panels from cracking during the stripping and handling phase. Also included on this project are individual round column covers, custom form liner spandrels, louvered ventilation panels, as well as cast in lettering in panels.

This project was a huge success for all members of the team due to the integration of computer models across trades and across different modeling platforms. FDG was able to work alongside the design team to coordinate all aspects of the architecture and structural attachment, all through sharing of computer models. This process, termed “Integrated Project Delivery”, sped up efficiency to the point that panel production began when the contract drawings were only 50% complete. Overall this landmark structure turned out very beautifully and was open for service in February of 2012. In the aerial views of tower, precast is lighter shade, darker shades are copper panels.