The Harris County Transportation Plaza, Jury Assembly Building and Tunnel Renovation project is the centerpiece for the recently consolidated Harris County Courts complex in the heart of downtown Houston. Located in the center of a nine square-block campus, the facility is the first point of engagement for jurors who may be empanelled in one of four different courts. After clearing the ground-level security checkpoint, jurors are directed to one of four underground assembly rooms, each with a seating capacity of 250. To enable easy and convenient movement of jurors, the assembly rooms connect to the existing subterranean pedestrian tunnel system which links to the Criminal Justice Center, Civil Courthouse, Juvenile Justice Center, Family Law Center, County Jailand a parking garage. This unique structure was built by Hoar Construction and features a waterproofing system from American Hydrotech, Inc.
The 33,000 square-foot Jury Assembly Building consumes an entire city block, but the new steel and concrete structure is 85 percent below grade. Building an underground facility in the middle of in Houston’s high water table essentially involved putting a bubble around the building. At the Jury Assembly Building, Hoar wrapped the bottom, top and sides of the building in three separate layers of waterproofing.