New $140M Bergen County Justice Center Opens

BERGEN COUNTY, N.J. — The new $140 million Bergen County Justice Center opened earlier this month.

The facility is the centerpiece of a six-year plan to modernize and upgrade the county's justice center complex, which includes the county jail and courthouse. The building now houses the county Prosecutor's Office, Sheriff's Department, Surrogate Office and Tax Board.

"Two Bergen County Plaza is a tremendous new addition to the County's government complex and a prudent investment of public funds,” said Bergen County Administrator Julien Neals. "Two Bergen is now home to critical government services and we are confident that it will stand for many years as a symbol of the pride we feel for community."

RSC Architects of Hackensack designed the six-floor, 130,000-square-foot facility, which features projecting porticos, a recessed top floor and stone throughout with wood accents.

The first floor houses the main lobby, cafeteria, conference center and tax office. The higher floors house the sheriff's, prosecutor's and surrogate's offices.

The multi-purpose conference center was designed for both special events and daytime meetings, with floating wood panels on the ceiling.

"We chose to use pre-cast concrete panels for construction, which can be fabricated off-site in lots of different designs, shipped here, and craned up to be placed on the steel frame,” said Jeffrey Schlecht, senior project manager for RSC Architects. “This allowed us to incorporate unique details that hint at classical elements, while working with a durable product on a site with limited space.”

RSC is now designing the renovation of the vacated portions of the courthouse.

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Photos of the new Bergen County Justice Center — Courtesy of RSC Architects