In today’s world where so many things are thrown away, there is something immeasurably gratifying about restoring historic structures from times when pride and precision trumped speed and profit. Large-scale restoration opportunities are few and far between and competition for them as an architect is fierce, so landing one is tremendously rewarding. Such has been the case with the Frank E. Moss U.S. Courthouse in Salt Lake City, which is currently undergoing a seismic upgrade, backfill and renovation.
Salt Lake City at the turn of the 20th century was no longer just an open-range home to indigenous people, a secluded Mormon settlement or a ragged frontier outpost. It was a diverse and burgeoning economic center on the brink of becoming a major metropolis.
After decades of attempts, Utah finally achieved statehood in 1896. Its leaders recognized an immediate need to erect structures that reflected the capital city’s increasing stature. What is now known as the Exchange Place Historic District emerged. The first of its eight buildings was the U.S.
Post Office and Courthouse—the state’s first federal building—which introduced the Classical Revival style to Utah and brought with it an air of sophistication previously unknown to the area.
Completed in 1905, the original building had a U-shaped structure. Two additions in 1912 and 1932 closed the end of the “U” and added another U-shaped section, which doubled the size of the original footprint. When the last addition was constructed, the Classical Revival style was reinterpreted as a form of modern classicism common for many public buildings in the 1930s. In 1990, it would be renamed the Frank E. Moss U.S. Courthouse after the Utah native who served as U.S. Senator from 1959-77.
Given the rich history of this landmark, being selected to sustainably retrofit it back to its original glory is the type of project I dream about—bringing vitality and purpose back to a building in service of the surrounding community and celebrating history in concert with modern innovation.
The St. Louis office of HOK and Trivers partnered on a response to a nationwide Design Excellence search the General Services Administration (GSA) issued in 2019. GSA was looking for a team to upgrade and renovate the Moss courthouse, including a tenant build-out on every floor. After
this major renovation—the building’s first since 1932—12 federal agency tenants will move back into the facility, most notably the U.S. Bankruptcy Court and U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. HOK’s nationally recognized leadership in sustainability and workplace design combined with Trivers’ expertise in modernizing historic structures led to our team being selected for this monumental effort.
Because the Moss courthouse is built along the Wasatch Fault, the largest earthquake threat in the interior U.S., a key component of the project is a seismic retrofit, which modifies the existing structure to make it more impervious to events, such as earthquakes. This type of resilient design is also intended to resist climate stressors, like the harsh winter storms characteristic of the Wasatch Mountains.
Slated for completion in 2025, priorities for the $100 million project are to increase the Moss courthouse’s resilience and sustainability. To achieve that, original finish materials in most of the building’s historic areas have been disassembled and are being stored at an offsite location. Original walls will be strengthened with concrete, and lateral bracing will be installed throughout the facility. HOK’s structural engineers designed the retrofit using shotcrete—spray concrete—because it conforms to seismic retrofit codes and was determined to be the most effective way to stabilize the original structure and its two additions. Essentially, a new concrete building is being constructed inside the original structure.
To protect the historic integrity of the Moss courthouse, the project has a Section 106 requirement. Laid out and administered by the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation (ACHP), Section 106 mandates that firms working on historic projects receiving federal funds must engage the community regarding proposed work, and measures of adverse effect must be studied.
IMAGES: HOK unless otherwise noted