The FBI’s Miami regional headquarters office was designed in pursuit of the 2030 Zero Environmental Footprint project goal, a 2009 executive order mandating that federal buildings achieve zero net energy use by 2030. Key to the building’s sustainability goals is its building facade: high-performance curtainwall systems featuring floor-to-ceiling glass dynamically articulated to the sun’s angles. The result is an iconic, high-security structure that maximizes transparency for over 1,000 employees.

San Diego’s 16-story federal courthouse covers 2.6 urban acres and contains six district courtrooms and an initial build-out of 12 chambers. Architect Richard Meier’s design called for the tower to stand in contrast to its surrounding cityscape with a maritime terracotta and glass cladding scheme. Glass material in combination with minimal supports streams natural daylight throughout the structure’s east elevation, showcasing the courthouse’s public half with a metaphorically transparent skin.

For the San Jose City Hall project, Richard Meier designed a slim 18-story metal and glass tower with an adjacent public plaza dominated by a free-standing dome topping a 10-story glass rotunda. At 100´, the rotunda’s diameter surpasses that of the U.S. Capitol building and is virtually all glass. The high-tech structure uses external trusses of stainless steel cable and spider fittings to support the glass. Overall, the project conveys a sense of transparency and openness in democratic government.