Wake County unveiled plans for its new Justice Center project . The complex will replace rise at Salisbury and Martin Streets, and feature an 11-story tower. The $214 million complex will offer several new courtrooms, much-needed room for records, offices, and underground parking. ( map it )

The famed Garland Jones building (former First Citizens Federal Bank above, left) building will be razed, raising much angst among the architectural community. The building is one of the few of its style in North Carolina, but is not registered as an historic place. The building’s neighboring parking deck and the 8-story brick building next to the safety center will also be removed.

The construction timeline extends to the project’s completion in 2013. The plan allows for completion of the county’s L-Building (including a parking deck) before demolition of the current courthouse parking deck. Once completed, the building will connect to the existing courthouse and safety center via underground tunnels.

While the project is a much needed improvement to an ever tightening supply of space for the county, the project has some design weaknesses that can still be overcome.

The property’s redevelopment is a long-awaited opportunity to correct one of Nash Square’s corners. The square is one of only two remaining squares in the Christmas plan for Raleigh, and provides a valuable place for its nearby community that should be the focus of its surroundings. The current parking garage at McDowell and Martin, instead, treats Nash as a seemingly random, undeveloped lot. Joe’s Place at Dawson and Martin, on the other hand, fabulously addresses the grand park across the street, as will the Hue condominium building.

The picture above, left is the projection from Nash Square. The picture on the right is in Washington, DC, and addresses the intersection with a very bold corner. The architects, to their credit, did put one of the Justice Center’s entrances on the McDowell/Martin corner, however it is way too understated and vague. Just as Progress II’s Wilmington St. corner fails to address this important urban intersection, the Justice Center’s offset entrance and smoker’s patio is no way to formally address Nash Square.

From the square, the eye finds its way back to the complexes central, stubby tower. Perhaps bringing the building’s exterior fully to the corner with a rounded, ascending front would give Nash Square what it deserves. Perhaps a coffee shop or a small restaurant much like The Dawson’s Borough would invite interaction between the square and the building.

Salisbury Street’s projection (above) misses an opportunity as well. The Justice Center’s base is planned to abut the Public Safety Center. The new building’s tower is not only inset from the Public Safety Center’s tower, it also sits back from Salisbury St. Unfortunately the complex’s facade sinks away from Salisbury, too, in order to create an outdoor plaza with a central fountain. Do we really need another outdoor plaza with no programming (other than smoking) in Raleigh? Wouldn’t it be more interesting to pedestrians to fill this space with another coffee shop or small food outlet? A pedestrian walking this stretch of Salisbury will be greeted with two plazas of people hanging around on the right and a blank wall on the left. We need to avoid cavernous, blank blocks.

Tonight’s session the building’s features and design was an unusual, welcome, open extension by building designers. There are three more planned , and each lasts from 5pm to 7pm:

• Feb 12: Northern Regional Center (NRC), 350 Holding Avenue, Wake Forest
• Feb 18: Knightdale Town Hall, 950 Steeple Square Court, Knightdale
• Feb 19: Wake County West Regional Library, 4000 Louis Stephens Road, Cary

Here are a few more of the plates shown at the presentation ( even more ) (2/15 update: The images are part of this .pdf file, which is now available ).