Selected as one of the 2010 COTE Top Ten Green Projects, the new Watsonville Area Water Operations Center supports the larger Water Recycling Project, a joint effort of the City of Watsonville and the Pajaro Valley Water Management Agency to provide recycled water to farmers throughout the coastal areas of South Santa Cruz and North Monterey counties.

By treating wastewater and making it available to the $400 million local agricultural industry, the Water Recycling Project protects groundwater that is being consumed more quickly than it is replenished, resulting in saltwater intrusion into coastal wells. In addition, the plant significantly reduces wastewater discharges into the Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary.

Photographs by Bruce Damonte

Designed by Denton Corker Marshall, the headquarters of the Ministry of Justice in the North West of England. The building, as described by the architects, is the biggest court complex to be built in the UK since the Royal Courts of Justice (opened in 1882). It houses 47 courtrooms and 75 consultation rooms, in addition to office and support space over 15 levels. Sustainability has been a major consideration for the architects from initial concept with natural ventilation to all areas contributing to its BREEAM rating of ‘Excellent’.

The working courts and offices are expressed as long rectilinear forms, articulated at each floor level, and projecting at each end of the building as a varied composition of solid and void. Viewed in side elevation, these elements collectively establish a dynamic and distinctive building profile; in end elevation, they form a powerful sculptural interplay of light and shade, depth and complexity. The architectural implication is that the courts are not forbidding or concealed, but open and accessible.

Photographs by Tim Griffith