Judge Seymour Gelber & Judge William E. Gladstone Miami-Dade Children’s Courthouse

Overview

The Miami-Dade Children’s Courthouse combines traditional and family courts plus social service agencies and other resources under one roof. The building design includes 16 standard courtrooms and two high-volume courtrooms, each with its own secure holding area. The top two floors include Judges’ chambers, Clerk of Courts of the 11th Judicial Circuit Juvenile Division and administrative offices. Separate parking areas, building entrances and interior circulation areas for the public, judiciary and detainees provide a secure environment.

Features

Varied interior spaces feature specialized energy-efficient lighting systems. The local utility provides electrical service via a transformer vault located on the ground level. The overall design incorporates space for a future chiller plant switchboard with empty conduits from the transformer vault. A 10,000-gallon diesel fuel tank serves a 1,500-kw generator and provides up to 120 hours of back-up, with the fuel tank housed in an above-ground storage vault.