Springdale Municipal Complex Honored with National Justice Facility Award at AIA26 Awards Gala

The Springdale Municipal Complex has won the AIA Justice Facilities Review Award! We had the pleasure of being honored with this award at the AIA26 Awards Gala in San Diego last week!

Springdale is the fourth largest city in the state located between Bentonville and Fayetteville in northwest Arkansas. Between 1990 and 2010, it experienced a 133% growth in population. Designed to meet the growth for the next 20 years, the new 122,481-square-foot municipal complex houses a state-of-the-art police facility and a district court and includes partial renovation of the existing city administration building.

Duvall Decker was selected to lead this project through the Walton Family Foundation’s Northwest Arkansas Design Excellence Program. The design aspires to meet the functional and growth needs of Springdale with a new environmentally mature facility that reflects the community’s values. The design establishes three public rooms as the most important civic figures in the complex: the council chamber, the district court, and the police training facility. An internal agora/hall connects all three functions and allows for a single secure entrance under the council chamber.

As is the case for all publicly-funded projects, the design solution had to be economical and exhibit both long-term flexibility for office areas and durability for public use areas. With a goal to utilize inexpensive materials and achieve a civic presence, the exterior combines brick and precast concrete skin to create a dynamic pattern of light and warm and cool shadows. The three civic rooms are appointed with natural light and a view of the park and city, and adorned with acoustic wood paneling and oak-trimmed steel trusses.

Duvall Decker is filled with gratitude to see this project be recognized on the national stage. We can’t thank AIA enough for acknowledging its impact. Congratulations to everyone in our Duvall Decker family for your steadfast dedication to this work. A big thank you to the city of Springdale, AR, for establishing a vision, to the Walton Family Foundation for their commitment and support to the project, and to all our consultants for helping us carry it forward.