LA Federal Courthouse

LA Federal Courthouse

A new landmark for Downtown Los Angeles’ Civic Center, the Los Angeles Federal Courthouse bridges the commercial district on Broadway with the civic district on Hill Street. The landscape design complements the building’s formal elegance while making use of the site’s steep topography to create generous civic space. The planting concept draws from Southern California floristic biomes of chaparral, oak woodland, and desert. As a precedent for native planting in the urban context, the planting design tests and highlights the use of climate-appropriate species in the face of drought, climate change, and energy shortages.