For economic reasons, the municipal and county entities decided to share the $15-million facility on 31 acres in the southern part of the county where they could both share improved police, courts and administrative facilities. The entire west side of the structure is devoted to the city's police department, while the Larimer County offices and courts will be housed in the building's southeast wing.

The building's hallmark is a large rounded entry rotunda capped by a glass pyramid, which sits at the juncture of the building's two wings.

Variegated colors in the brick masonry give the building an organic texture, which on the rotunda is overlaid with a subtly contrasting diamond-grid brickwork pattern.

"The contrast of the building's curvilinear and angular aspects creates a tension that energizes and unifies the building," says Curt Fentress, principal-in-charge of design at Denver-based Fentress Bradburn Architects, the architect on the project.

Many of the building's windows are optimized with screened roller shades that regulate direct sunlight. Clerestories, in combination with interior windows and office-door sidelights, allow penetration of indirect daylight deep into the building. High performance glazing was used for all exterior windows to minimize heat loss and gain.

From the north entrance, visitors enter an atrium that is open to the pyramid skylight above. On the floor is a mosaic maze, by local artist Mario Miguel Echevarria, symbolizing protective influences. The rotunda is a large, multi-use open space capable of hosting meetings and presentations, and features an operable wall that can separate it into two spaces. The two wings are in a slightly skewed relationship to each other, which causes the wide corridors at the entry to narrow as they advance through the building into less public areas. The site features a large passenger drop-off area and a great deal of landscaping.

Within the courts facilities, three separate circulation paths are provided -- public, private and secured -- maximizing building safety and ease of use for all court participants. Six city and county agencies are consolidated within the building, including the police department, city attorney and municipal courts, as well as county courts, probation department and district attorney.