The Architecture of Law Courts explains the history, development and function of law courts, illustrating nearly 100 court buildings with in depth studies of 37 new law courts of the 21st century, which between them have won nearly 50 national and international design awards. It is a guide for the judiciary and architects around the world on how to design excellent law courts, but is also a fascinating guide for anyone interested in architecture and in this rarely published group of public buildings.

Introduction 6

A brief history of law courts in England and Wales 6

Law courts in the 21st century 24

The future of law courts 34

Design principles for law courts 36

The ten key fundamentals of law court design 36

From fundamentals to function

to architecture 38

Context

Site planning 41

Urban design/townscape 43

Landscape design 44

Extending existing buildings 49

Reusing historic buildings 51

Environmental sustainability 76

Form

Form and massing 77

Building plan forms 79

Appearance, aesthetics and architecture 83

External spaces 89

Major internal spaces 91

Entrances 91

Court Halls 93

Courtrooms 97

Circulation spaces 102

Retiring rooms 103

Consultation rooms 106

Offices 107

Detail

Architectural scale 113

External detail 118

Interior design 121

Interior materials 124

Internal detailing 126

Colour 127

Environmental quality 130

Appearance of security features 132

Portfolio of examples

New court buildings 2000 - 2015 

Cambridge County court 135

Manchester magistrates 136

Huntingdon magistrates 138

Worle magistrates 141

Exeter crown 142

Bristol magistrates 144

Cambridge Crown 146

Loughborough magistrates 148

Cambridge magistrates 150

Manchester Civil Justice Centre 152

Salisbury magistrates 157

Caernarfon criminal courts 159

Leamington Spa Justice Centre 161

Bristol Civil Justice Centre 165

City of Westminster magistrates 167

Chelmsford magistrates 170

Colchester magistrates 172

Newport magistrates 175

Restored, extended, reused courts

Manchester Minshull St Crown Court 179

Dundee Sheriff court 185

Derby magistrates 186

Liverpool Community court 190

Guernsey Royal courts 192

Gee St civil courthouse 194

Hendon magistrates 197

The Supreme Court 200

Isleworth crown 207

Aberystwyth Justice Centre 210

Sunderland magistrates 213

Courts to come and the ones that got away

Aberystwyth Mill St 216

Bradford magistrates 216

Aylesbury crown 217

Snaresbrook crown 218

West Bromwich magistrates 218

Sunderland Justice Centre 219

Liverpool magistrates 220

Birmingham magistrates 222

Appendices

List of illustrations 223

Data table 228