Concept - Circulation and Seperation

A key architectural issue of a court house is circulation. My concept for the Newcastle Law Courts is about simplifying and exposing the circulation by using it to articulate the form.

Another issue for the law courts, is the historical court house and how this building is going to be used, re-adapted or built around, as well as the current vegetation on the site, and whether this is going to be kept, moved or removed entirely. From this tricky problem I have developed two possible solutions.

1. An empty psychiatric ward lies directly south of the court house site in the Fletcher Hospital grounds. This ward is a fairly recent building and not historically significant, though many other buildings on the grounds are.
By removing this ward and expanding the law court precinct, open public areas and space for other offices and businesses can be incorporated into the site.

Site section shown through public plaza.

The wall surrounding the public plaza is formed from the facade of the 1970's extension. The wall provides visual shelter from the street and pub for those people attending the law courts, and also provides an opportunity for an outdoor cafe and smoking area.

2. If the law courts site is not expanded, and the historical court house remains as is. Then the new law courts would have to expand vertically. Vertical law courts would also allow the western side of the site to be turned over to other offices or small businesses.

 

By using a similar technique to concept 1, the tower can be raised off the ground plain to create an open public area underneath.

Some Divine Inspiration

The perception of openness and accessibility...

Whilst researching some modern court house designs I stumbled across the Bordeaux Law Courts in France. Designed by UK architects Rogers Stirk Harbour and Partners in 2005. From the first image, i was in love.

More images on http://www.richardrogers.co.uk/work/all_projects/bordeaux_law_courts/completed

After trawling through their website and reading about their design concepts I discovered they had a really clever circulation layout as well. The court rooms are floating inside the building in timber clad pods connected by bridges to administration areas on one side and public spaces on the other. The open interior spaces and articulated court rooms have inspired a concept of a court house that is open, transparent and minimal in its layout, unraveling the building and exposing it components.

Sketch Models

What to do when your not feeling inspired? make some sketch models and see what happens.

 

Initial Concepts - Regionalism

Regional architecture might trigger images of skillion roofed buildings in paddocks, but what I am exploring is regionalism through materials.
Directly north of the site is Newcastle harbor - The working harbor sees activities from ships and industry as well as leisure activities such as yacht racing and water sports
Directly east of the site - Surf and sand form the edge of the city that over looks the ocean and cliffs show sandstone and seams of coal that are still present under Newcastle's much mined hills.

To the west of the site and the Hunter region, vineyards, mountains, forests and craftsmanship bring timber and fine detail to the concept of a regional building that reflects the whole of the Hunter region.

 

Initail Concepts - Transparency

While exploring the concept of light and transparency I found that it would easily translate to environmentally sustainable design solutions. Solar control and cross ventilation forming part of the natural lighting and transparency of spaces.

 

 Structure is also a key element in the lightness the ratio of solid and void can play with a persons perspective of elements that are light and heavy.

 

Initial Concepts - Stacking

Another concept I have explored is the more literal idea of stacks of papers and files and folders that are always present of the desks of court rooms. This led to a series of sketches relating to the facade of the law courts along Church Street.

Initial Concepts - Darkness

Initial ideas for the Newcastle law courts center around light and darkness and how these elements can be used to shape the building  as an extension of the law and the consequences of breaking it.

The concept of the building being used to emphasize the law led to the idea of flipping the building upside down and housing the court rooms underground with car parking and offices above ground.