The Cornelius F. Kiernan Judicial Center sets a new standard for courthouse design, emphasizing sustainability, accessibility, and a modern user experience. The building features seventeen courtrooms with advanced security and technology systems and integrates public art in its glass curtain wall that reflects Lowell’s architecture, diversity, and judicial legacy.
The facility consolidates the operations of the District, Housing, Superior, Juvenile, Probate, and Family Courts and includes office space for court staff, a Law Library, a detainee holding area, the Registry of Deeds, the District Attorney’s office, and the Grand Jury Room. As the first building constructed under Lowell’s Hamilton Canal District master plan, the courthouse anchors the area’s revitalization.
The recipient of the BSA Accessible Design Award and the AIA Justice Facilities Review Award, it is the first courthouse in the country to earn LEED Platinum certification.
Photography: © Anton Grassl
National Grid/Eversource Energy Optimization Award
