The $105M Columbus, OH courthouse recently completed construction and opened to some criticism. The grand staircase has glass risers and is open below. For now, a security guard stands at the bottom of the stairs and warns women in dresses and skirts that they may want to avoid walking the stairs since they are open to being viewed from below.

It’s your basic “I see England, I see France, I see a judge’s underpants.” In fact, Judge Julie Lynch says, “Men designed it. How can you open a brand new building and not take into consideration half the population?”

The Judge makes a great point. I’ve often noticed that when only men are on the building design team, the ultimate utility of the building suffers. It may come as a shock, but men and women are different. I benefit from pushing to have both working on the design of my projects.