Abbotsford Law Courts
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Location
Abbotsford, BC
Project Size
165,000 sq. ft.
Year Completed
2020
Awards

Vancouver Regional Construction Association Awards of Excellence, Mechanical Contractors – Over $9 Million (2021)

SP&T News, Integrator of the Year Award (2022)

Certifications
LEED Gold

Integrated civic services.

Located in the City Centre Civic Precinct, Abbotsford Law Courts provides the space needed to expand critical justice services in the City of Abbotsford. The 14-room courthouse contains three Supreme Court courtrooms, eight Provincial Court courtrooms, and three judicial conference rooms. The facility incorporates justice programs such as Crown counsel, community corrections, and a Justice Access Centre, as well as a parkade. As part of the DBFM team, Smith + Andersen was engaged to provide mechanical, electrical, and intelligent integrated systems design for the development. Footprint was engaged as the sustainability consultant. 

 

The (mechanical) system.

Six indoor air handling units (AHUs) serve the courtrooms, court administration rooms, judges’ chambers, holding areas, and public circulation spaces. Special consideration was also given to the system’s redundancy and isolation of the various air streams, eliminating the risk of contaminating secure areas. The building is cooled through the use of three air-cooled chillers, and heated with three natural gas-fired condensing boilers. Additionally, the protection of sensitive exhibits and evidence storage areas in the building were provided through installed, clean agent fire protection systems.

 

Intelligent decisions.

The new law courts incorporate modern, integrated systems that support secure networks for a diverse user group, including security and building automation systems for judicial and public rooms. The electrical design consists of a single-ended unit substation and generator, with N+1 UPS power for life safety and backup power. Additional power redundancy for essential systems is provided through a connection for a mobile temporary generator. With the spare capacity included at various distribution levels, this allows for future flexibility in mechanical and department loads. Taking advantage of natural daylighting, LED luminaires and full lighting controls were also incorporated in the design, which prioritized visual comfort, light quality, public safety, energy savings, and security. Additionally, the two-stage fire protection system minimizes disruptions to courtroom proceedings and evidence storage areas through the use of pre-action systems. 

Integrated civic services.

Located in the City Centre Civic Precinct, Abbotsford Law Courts provides the space needed to expand critical justice services in the City of Abbotsford. The 14-room courthouse contains three Supreme Court courtrooms, eight Provincial Court courtrooms, and three judicial conference rooms. The facility incorporates justice programs such as Crown counsel, community corrections, and a Justice Access Centre, as well as a parkade. As part of the DBFM team, Smith + Andersen was engaged to provide mechanical, electrical, and intelligent integrated systems design for the development. Footprint was engaged as the sustainability consultant. 

 

The (mechanical) system.

Six indoor air handling units (AHUs) serve the courtrooms, court administration rooms, judges’ chambers, holding areas, and public circulation spaces. Special consideration was also given to the system’s redundancy and isolation of the various air streams, eliminating the risk of contaminating secure areas. The building is cooled through the use of three air-cooled chillers, and heated with three natural gas-fired condensing boilers. Additionally, the protection of sensitive exhibits and evidence storage areas in the building were provided through installed, clean agent fire protection systems.

 

Intelligent decisions.

The new law courts incorporate modern, integrated systems that support secure networks for a diverse user group, including security and building automation systems for judicial and public rooms. The electrical design consists of a single-ended unit substation and generator, with N+1 UPS power for life safety and backup power. Additional power redundancy for essential systems is provided through a connection for a mobile temporary generator. With the spare capacity included at various distribution levels, this allows for future flexibility in mechanical and department loads. Taking advantage of natural daylighting, LED luminaires and full lighting controls were also incorporated in the design, which prioritized visual comfort, light quality, public safety, energy savings, and security. Additionally, the two-stage fire protection system minimizes disruptions to courtroom proceedings and evidence storage areas through the use of pre-action systems.