Project Overview

The new Philadelphia Family Court building is a sprawling 14-story, 510,0000 square foot structure located in Center City. The $160 million facility now centrally combines two related court service operations of the First Judicial District (FJD), Philadelphia’s court system, once housed separately: Domestic Relations and Juvenile divisions.

Professional Systems Engineering designed a floor of the Family Courthouse, including 5 of the courtrooms. Our design services contributed to the much-needed transformation and upgrade of the courtroom technologies. The quality of design and integrated courtroom technologies reflected the importance of the cases presented in the courtrooms.

Services Provided

Communications
  • Communications infrastructure
  • Main point of presence coordination
  • Wide area of network interface
  • Distribution backbone design
  • Consulting for switching and servers
  • IDF/MDF tele/data room equipment layout
  • Tele/data communications structured cabling system
  • MATV/CATV system
  • Video visitation
  • Microphones at each position for local voice lift as well as integration for recording, teleconferencing, and video conferencing
  • Centralized amplifiers and speakers distributed throughout each courtroom for even audio coverage for all intended listeners
  • Infrared assistive listening systems for inclusion of the hearing-impaired and ADA compliance
  • Digital video switching system for input of video sources and selectable display on large projection screen as well as tabletop monitors
  • LCD projectors on motorized ceiling lifts and motorized projection screens for large-format video displays that disappear when not in use
  • Touch screen A/V control system with custom graphical user interface for controlling all user-accessible functions of the A/V systems as well as integration with the lighting system
  • Hardware codec and multiple cameras per courtroom for video conferencing
  • Telephone conferencing bridges for audio teleconferencing utilizing the distributed microphones and speakers
  • Annotation processors and touchscreen annotation monitors for real-time video annotation
  • CobraNet network-based paging system for area-based public announcements in waiting areas and hallways as well as integration with the building-wide paging system
  • IPTV system for playing cable television in public waiting areas
  • Digital signage system for displaying courtroom dockets and other public information
  • Dante network-based audio system for integration with the Owner’s courtroom audio recording system
  • Centralized A/V equipment rooms to keep all rack-mounted A/V equipment and its associated noise and heat out of the courtrooms