In a bold rethinking of civic infrastructure, global architecture firm HOK has completed the Wayne County Criminal Justice Center in Detroit—an ambitious 1.1 million-square-foot complex designed to balance function, transparency, and dignity. With scalloped concrete panels, generous daylighting, and a unifying architectural framework, the center represents a new approach to justice-oriented public space in the 21st century.
A new chapter for Detroit’s justice system
Spanning 11 acres in central Detroit, the newly completed Wayne County Criminal Justice Center is more than just a collection of buildings—it is a strategic reorganization of civic functions long dispersed across aging facilities throughout the city. Designed by international architecture firm HOK, the center consolidates a diverse set of services into one highly coordinated campus. It includes an adult detention facility with 2,280 beds, a juvenile detention center housing 160 beds, a 29-courtroom courthouse, an administrative office for the county sheriff and prosecutor, and a central utility plant.
“The project reflects a deep commitment to dignity, transparency, and efficiency,” HOK stated. “By consolidating previously scattered services, the new campus dramatically reduces transit time for defendants, legal professionals, and families, enabling better access to justice.”
This centralized approach also serves a broader civic goal: restoring public confidence in a system often perceived as opaque or adversarial. The architectural language—grounded in rhythm, light, and community scale—helps to visually and experientially reframe what a justice center can be.
Designing for dignity, not just security
While the functional demands of a justice facility are significant—security, durability, logistical control—HOK sought to layer in another, often-overlooked quality: dignity. The firm paid particular attention to the facade treatments, using architectural materials as narrative tools. A podium structure provides continuity across the site, while each building is customized based on its purpose.
Most striking are the scalloped pre-cast concrete panels that wrap the jails, administration building, and utility plant. These undulating forms do more than animate the facades with shifting patterns of light and shadow—they subtly reference Detroit’s industrial heritage.
“The scallop form pays homage to the curvature of the automobiles designed and built in the Motor City,” HOK said. But these panels aren’t purely aesthetic; they’re structural and insulated, contributing to thermal performance and reducing construction complexity. The courthouse and administrative buildings, in contrast, integrate extensive glass curtain walls that invite daylight deep into both public and secure areas. This commitment to transparency, literal and symbolic, is a central theme. Large windows humanize the scale of the buildings, while their street-facing orientation—eschewing typical security setbacks—suggests openness and engagement with the surrounding community.
A high-performance civic space
Despite the project’s complexity, HOK was tasked with delivering the campus on a strict budget, without compromising quality. The team met this challenge not only through strategic material choices but by embedding sustainable design practices throughout the campus. The project is expected to earn LEED Silver certification, thanks to its energy-efficient systems, daylit interiors, and smart site planning. “From a civic architecture standpoint, this project defies expectations,” HOK noted. “It’s a welcoming public building that serves highly functional, and often sensitive, roles while raising the bar for what justice architecture can be.”
The design has already gained recognition, receiving a Design Excellence Award from the AIA Chicago chapter. Its combination of cost-consciousness, community responsiveness, and formal clarity serves as a model for public institutions across the U.S.—particularly as cities rethink the physical spaces where justice is administered.
Civic architecture at a crossroads
The Wayne County Criminal Justice Center emerges at a critical moment in public discourse around the future of incarceration, access to justice, and government transparency. While not without controversy—particularly in a time of growing concern about mass incarceration—HOK’s design introduces a language of care and contextual sensitivity.
The project aligns with a growing movement in architecture toward “humanizing” justice spaces, seen in other global examples such as Greenland’s weathering steel-clad prison emphasizing humane design, or California’s plans to convert San Quentin State Prison into a rehabilitation-focused facility inspired by Nordic models.
By moving beyond the hardened imagery of correctional infrastructure and replacing it with layered materials, community-scaled gestures, and abundant natural light, the Wayne County project posits a future in which justice is not just served—but seen to be served, fairly and transparently.
Project details:
Name: Wayne County Criminal Justice Center
Location: Detroit, Michigan, USA
Architect: HOK
Size: 1.1 million sq ft (102,200 sq m)
Key features: 2,280-bed adult jail, 160-bed juvenile facility, 29 courtrooms, administration and utility buildings
Sustainability goal: LEED Silver Certification
Completion: 2024
Recognition: AIA Chicago Design Excellence Award
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