Pre-Design, Architectural, and Engineering Services for the Pierce County Juvenile Justice Center

The Pierce County Facilities Management Department (County) is soliciting Statements of Qualifications from experienced professional architecture firms for pre-design and architectural services on the Reimagining Juvenile Justice project, a project to design and construct a new juvenile justice center located in Tacoma, Washington on the site of the current Remann Hall Juvenile Detention Center at 5501 6th Ave, Tacoma, WA 98406. The successful firm to this RFQ will initially complete pre-design, including alternative analysis and submit the deliverable to the Owner for determination of next steps, including project delivery methodology. This document will guide subsequent phases of design and construction. At the end of each phase there will be a deliberate and written decision as to if the project should continue into the next phase of architectural services as outlined below. 

The successful firm for this project will possess strength in design of family and/or juvenile courtrooms, administrative and support spaces, and secure juvenile detention facility with knowledge of utilizing Trauma Informed Design practices in planning and programming. The new family and youth justice center pre-design shall use the Pierce County Juvenile Justice Task Force Report and recommendations as a basis for design (Attachment B). The primary building functions are juvenile court and dependency services, probation and diversion services, detention services, and administration services. The design assumption for the new project is that the current Remann Hall functions and programs will remain operational throughout construction of the new building. The extent of phasing and demolition is unknown at this time nor the extent that may be required for a new facility in conjunction with removal of existing. The firm should be experienced in phasing and temporary services should that be required. A comprehensive hazardous material survey and complete site survey have not been completed and the team should consist of consultants capable of performing such services.

In addition to juvenile justice design experience, the successful firm will possess experience in other secure government facilities with comparable character, organizational strength for projects of the same size and timeframe, firm/team strength and experience with overall project planning, programming, coordinating consultant team specialists, scope and budget development, design, permitting, bidding, construction administration, project closeout, and all other services required to complete the project. This description is not necessarily all-inclusive, and the consultant team should consider any tasks or services deemed necessary to complete the project satisfactorily. Consultant teams are encouraged to bring any expertise gained from other projects, creative ideas tested elsewhere, and best practices applicable to this project.

Pierce County is separately soliciting for an Owner Advisor (OA) with expertise in Washington State’s alternative delivery methods. They will participate with the Owner in pre-design activities and make recommendations to the County on preparation, training, processes, application, and next steps throughout the project. At the conclusion of pre-design, the OA will make recommendation to the County as to if the project would best be procured and executed utilizing an allowable alternate delivery method. The OA will also make recommendation to the County, and the County will then determine based on recommendations, if under the resulting contract from this solicitation for A/E services, the project should advance forward through Schematic Design (SD) (30% Design), or if such design shall be conducted as part of an alternate delivery contract. If the project advances through SD, the same such pause and determination shall be made regarding alternative delivery.  

If the project does not utilize an alternative delivery method, and traditional Design-Bid-Build will be utilized for the remainder of the project, the County plans to continue with the remaining architectural services, provided appropriation of funding for continued services for the project. The 2026-27 Pierce County Capital Facilities Plan includes $2.4 million in 2026 to initiate preliminary and schematic design.

Background

Pierce County launched a collaborative effort to reimagine the future of juvenile justice at Remann Hall starting with the formation of a diverse and dedicated Juvenile Justice Task Force. This diverse group of people came from a variety of backgrounds who have the expertise and ability to collaborate to create a vision for the design of a new youth and family justice center that will ultimately reimagine and replace the aging Remann Hall facility with something far greater than just a new building: to create a space that meets the real needs of young people and families—a place of  restoration, growth, and connection. The juvenile justice Task Force Report and recommendations is the product from this effort and will be used as a basis for design throughout the design process (Attachment B).

More about the background of Remann Hall (documents and studies), the work of the Task Force, and the Community Engagement that was done in conjunction with the Task Force can be found on the following Juvenile Justice website.  https://www.piercecountywa.gov/8837/Pierce-County-Juvenile-Justice-Center. 

For more information about Superior Court’s Juvenile Court Program, please visit https://www.piercecountywa.gov/112/Juvenile-Court 

Resource Conservation and Sustainability priorities include: 

• Planning and implementing steps to comply with the Washington Clean Building Standards. 
• Planning and installation of electric vehicle charging infrastructure at County owned facilities. 
• Process improvement efforts to streamline the procurement of goods, tools and supplies resulting in reduced material waste and efficient use of staff time. 
• Maximize current capital projects for energy and water efficiency opportunities. 

Resource Conservation website https://www.piercecountywa.gov/1001/Resource-Conservation and Sustainability website https://www.piercecountywa.gov/2058/Sustainability-2030 
 

The County’s core values are Collaboration, Integrity, Excellence and Transparency. More can be found on our 2026-2027 Strategic Plan on the following website https://www.piercecountywa.gov/8755/2026-2027-Strategic-Plan 

Project Details

• Reference ID: 2026-RFQ-109
• Department: Procurement and Contract Division
• Department Head: Jana Prince (Procurement & Contracts Manager)

Important Dates

• Questions Due: 2026-04-22T23:30:00.000Z

Evaluation Criteria

• Organizational and Staff Capacity (20 pts) —

  Provide information regarding staff experience and qualifications that demonstrate the respondent’s capacity to perform the required services.  Include the following:

  • In a narrative, identify the team including specific individuals and sub-consultants for key positions (to include working titles, degrees, certificates, and licenses), describe the roles and responsibility of each team member, and how each team member will contribute to the successful completion of the scope of work, and how the satisfy the minimum requirements included in the RFQ.
  • Describe how team members meet or exceed the preferred experience being requested in this RFQ. 
  • Provide an organizational chart demonstrating the relationships and hierarchy of the team described above. Identify individuals by name, position, discipline, and firm. Identify key back up personnel.
  • Indicate in a narrative what software or tools the team will utilize and the advantages this brings the team and value to the County. 

  The body of the proposal should include enough information about your team members as described above, but a single-sided, letter-size page resume for each team member may be included as part of the appendix. Resumes exceeding the page limit will not be reviewed. 

• Project Approach Narrative (45 pts) —
  • Provide a detailed description of the team’s general approach, problem solving and methodology for accomplishing goals outlined in the scope of work section.  The approach should be consistent with the objectives and requirements set forth in the RFQ. The narrative should clearly address the team’s availability to execute the pre-design phase upon contract execution. Provide a narrative and bar graph type schedule indicating, in weeks, how the work will proceed under the contract.  Include proposed processes for ensuring effective coordination, as well as procedures for reporting and disseminating information.  Describe cost estimating, value engineering and QA/QC approach.
  •  Describe experience working with key stakeholders (elected officials, prosecutors, end users, community members), including presentations and facilitation of discussion related to key project features and decision points. Describe the flow of information and project communications with team members, the County’s project construction manager, contractor, owner advisors, and stakeholder groups. 
• Relevant Experience and Past Performance (25 pts) —
  • Provide evidence that the proposing company has been in business a minimum of 10 years. If submitting as a joint venture, or another entity formed solely for the purpose of responding to this RFQ, show evidence that the aggregate of the partner’s history is a minimum of 10 years, or if the joint venture has a history of a minimum of 10 years.
  • Include a list of a minimum, four (4) successfully completed projects your firm/team has undertaken of similar scope and complexity within the last eight (8) years.
    • At least one project shall demonstrate experience leading architectural and engineering services for criminal justice, judicial, or detention facilities, with a preference for juvenile justice and/or juvenile detention.
  • At least one project shall be in Washington State and demonstrate familiarity with Design-Bid-Build that complies with RCW 39.04 for public works.
    For each project identified, provide the following: 
    •    Project name and address. 
    •    Project Delivery Method 
    •    Describe the scope of the project 
    •    List the key project team members who were involved with the project and in what capacity. Include a brief description of the services relevant to the items listed in the Scope of Work as performed by the team members.
    •    The client name and contact person.  Include address, email, and phone number (verify contact information is current). 
    •    The size of the project (square footage constructed/renovated) 
    •    Dollar value of services and dollar value of the project. 
    •    Start and completion dates.
  • Codes, Laws and Regulations: Demonstrate, through written explanation, the respondent’s familiarity with federal, state, and local laws, regulations, and codes, including all laws governing the accessibility the project must have for persons with disabilities and Washington Clean Building Standards. 
  •  Other: Identify experience designing and conducting CA for detention security and surveillance systems, and courtroom and meeting room audio/visual systems.
• Access to the firm / team staff/ documents (7 pts) —
  • Describe how physically accessible the firm/team is to Pierce County, in terms of communications, meetings and field work.
  • Include any alternative methods of communications, meetings, or innovative methods that your team may propose, including any real time shared data access methods with Pierce County and/or consultants and contractors.
• Accuracy and Completeness of the Statement of Qualification (SOQ) (3 pts) —
  • Coherent and logical flow of written response.
  •  Legibility of figures and chart information.
  • Accurate project name and address and associated contacts
  • Formatting and layout follows parameter.
  •  Spelling and grammatical accuracy. 
• Interviews (if applicable) (100 pts) —

  Pierce County may interview the top ranked from the evaluation list. If interviews are conducted, rankings of the firms shall be determined by Pierce County using the combined results of interviews and proposal submittals

Submission Requirements

• Proposal (required) —

  Upload Proposal

• Project Description (required) —

  Please provide a brief, one to two paragraph, description of the project.

• Initial contract period: —

  Please enter the initial contract period:

   

  EXAMPLE:

  The initial contract period is anticipated to be for 12 months. The County has the option of renewing for an additional four years after initial contract is executed. The actual schedule will be negotiated with the selected firm based on consultant and agency staff availability and finalized scope of work.

• Renewal Options (required) —

  Plese enter the renewal options for this project.

  EXAMPLE:

  The initial contract period is anticipated to be for 12 months. The County has the option of renewing for an additional four years after initial contract is executed. The actual schedule will be negotiated with the selected firm based on consultant and agency staff availability and finalized scope of work.

• Do Federal Terms & Conditions Apply to this Project? (required)

Questions & Answers