[3] Designed by T.J. Tolan,[1] an architect from Fort Wayne, Indiana, the courthouse is a square structure with towers on all four corners.

Its architecture combines copious amounts of brick and stone: the foundation and the walls of the first floor are stone, along with the pilasters, columns, and quoins on the upper parts of the exterior, while the walls of the remaining stories and of the tower are built of brick.

[4] Tolan employed multiple groundbreaking construction techniques throughout the structure, such as pressed steel; his success in using these innovations earned recognition for both him and the courthouse in a national trade journal.

[5] Rising above the front of the courthouse is a clock tower with a statue of Justice placed in a niche.

Made of zinc, the statue is 8 feet (2.4 m) tall; before its installation at the courthouse, it was awarded first place in a Philadelphia sculpture competition.