Tweed Courthouse Renovation

The New York County Courthouse assumed the name of the notorious political figure William “Boss” Tweed who built and profited from its construction from 1861-1881. After original architect John Kellum died, Leopold Eidlitz was hired to complete the design and construction. Our lighting scope in the building’s restoration encompassed the entire building, interior and exterior.

Since there were no records or photos to guide the design team, fixtures from other Kellum and Eidlitz buildings were used as reference. Ten different custom decorative fixtures were developed for the project in response to the different architectural styles in the building designed by each architect. Lighting was integrated into rebuilt skylights to unobtrusively add electric lighting where none previously existed.

The exterior lighting included an in-ground uplight scheme to accentuate the restored classical detailing of the building while not upstaging City Hall immediately to the south. Soft floodlighting highlights the building’s entry portico.