(They spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to give interviews.)
Another compared the climate in the atrium to Puerto Rico - “minus the beach, unfortunately,” he said. “At least there’s a breeze outside,” a deputy marshal said one recent afternoon. People who work or have spent much time in the courthouse say the constant misting makes the air inside the atrium feel heavy and humid, so humid that sometimes it is more comfortable to be in the adjoining outdoor plaza. Meier’s firm, Richard Meier & Partners Architects, in New York, said the architects who participated in the project could not answer questions because they were on vacation, but he sent a document outlining the process.) (Edgar Almaguer, communications manager for Mr. Then, water nozzles on the sixth and top floor mist the air, which cools as it absorbs the moisture and begins to drop, joining overflow air from the air-conditioned balconies along the way. As rising hot air is allowed to escape, outside air is sucked in just under the roof, 115 feet above ground. The building uses a process known as adiabatic cooling to regulate the temperature in the open space.
If it is cold outside - and it does get cold here, by desert-living standards - it is also cold inside. There is no air-conditioner in the atrium, and no heating either. “We’re probably the only courthouse in the country where, in the summertime, they work in shirts, then in the winter, they have gloves and jackets,” said David Gonzales, United States marshal for the District of Arizona, whose office is in the courthouse. Arpaio of Maricopa County, which ended on Thursday - change their posts every hour so everyone gets some time inside the air-conditioned courtrooms.Ĭourt officers at the security station by the building’s entrance have special permission to take off the polyester jackets and ties that are part of their uniform and work in short-sleeve white shirts.
Sandra day o connor courthouse phoenix trial#
Deputy federal marshals who provide security during high-profile proceedings - like the civil rights trial of Sheriff Joseph M. Baristas in the food kiosk wear shorts and tank tops. Not in the towering atrium of the courthouse. Life in these months is best lived indoors, and in most public places air-conditioners are set so low that, after a few minutes, visitors might wish they had brought along a light jacket. In the summer here, the midday temperature rarely dips below 100 degrees, and it does not change much at night. Designed by the acclaimed architect Richard Meier, it is a sleek steel and glass structure of impressive dimensions and design whose undulating roof resembles, from a distance, an approaching jagged wave - a sort of apparition in a city in the desert.īut inside, a great expanse of the courthouse is hot, even for Arizona, where “hot” is not employed lightly. PHOENIX - The Sandra Day O’Connor Federal Courthouse here is a visual triumph of modern architecture.
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