Southlake Town Hall is a new construction, 80,000 SF building located in the heart of Southlake Town Square, the City of Southlake’s downtown district. The building is sited on the block north of the city’s main public square and town green, and serves as the focal point and main civic building anchoring the downtown development. Town Hall functions as the seat of the local city government as well as a sub-courthouse for Tarrant County. The city’s first public library is housed on the ground floor.
Civic Importance in the New Downtown
The design for Southlake Town Hall references the character, scale, and materials of traditional Texas courthouses built throughout the state. The south elevation that faces onto the public square is marked with a central portico raised on a formal set of exterior steps, signifying the civic nature of the building. Taking advantage of a slight slope to the site, the building is lowered one-half story into the grade to provide public entrances on the Town Square at both the ground floor and upper main floor. In order to fit within the small town scale of the two-story retail and office buildings surrounding the square, the mass of the building to either side of the portico is broken down in scale by several folds in the building façade and the setback of the fourth floor. The exterior is richly detailed, utilizing corbeled and custom-shaped brickwork, granite, and two textures and colors of cast stone.
Plan, Program and Interior Design
The four-story Southlake Town Hall is planned around a central, double-height lobby that connects the main public entrances to the north and the south. The Main Lobby is articulated with a perimeter colonnade that supports an overlook at the upper level, and is detailed with traditional wood wainscot paneling, coffering and trim. The Public Library and County Clerk and Tax offices are located on the ground floor, off the lower exterior entrance on the square. The Council Chambers, Municipal Courtroom and other government offices including Utility Billing, Public Safety, City Secretary, Justice of the Peace, and County Constable are located off of the Main Lobby on the second floor. Other departments of both the city and county governments, including Planning and Economic Development, Public Works, City Administration, the Office of the Mayor and the Office of the County Commissioner are located on the third and fourth floors.
