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Antwerp Law Courts
© Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners

Antwerp Law Courts

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The new Law Courts for the Flemish city of Antwerp is one of RRP’s major public buildings of the early 21st century. Like many projects by the practice, it reflects a vision of the city as a humane and democratic place with a commitment to the regeneration of urban life. The site for the Law Courts is at the Bolivarplaats, on the southern edge of Antwerp’s central area, where the urban fabric is broken by a massive motorway interchange, cutting off the boulevard that leads into the city.


The new building is one of the catalysts for RRP’s long-term masterplan of ‘the new south’ of the city, currently in progress. The new building, designed in conjunction with Belgian architects VK Studio, is conceived both as a gateway to the city and to provide a link across the motorway between the city centre and the Schelde River. It houses eight distinct civil and criminal courts and includes 36 courtrooms plus offices, chambers for judges and lawyers, library and dining room, with a great public hall (the space traditionally known as the ‘Salle des Pas Perdus’) linking six radiating wings of accommodation. This space is capped by a striking roofstructure, crystalline in form, rising above the paraboloid roofs that cover the courtrooms.


A low-energy services strategy is fundamental to this project – natural light is used to optimum effect, natural ventilation is supplemented by low-velocity ventilation for the hearing rooms and rainwater is recycled. The building, straddling a major highway, looks out to a large area of parkland – the design creates ‘fingers’ of landscaped that extend right into the heart of the building. The landscape is configured and planted to shield the building from the noise and pollution of the motorway.


Background


The site for the Antwerp Law Courts is the Bolivarplaats (a former railway station and goods yard), on the southern edge of Antwerp’s central area, where the urban fabric is broken by a massive motorway interchange, cutting off the boulevard that leads into the city. The building, designed in conjunction with VK Studios, was conceived both as a gateway to the city and as a link across the motorway between the city centre and the Schelde River. It houses eight distinct civil and criminal courts and includes 36 courtrooms plus offices, chambers for judges and lawyers, library and cafeteria, with a great public hall (the space traditionally known as the Salle des Pas Perdus) linking six radiating wings of accommodation. This space is capped by a striking roof structure, crystalline in form, linking the paraboloid roofs that cover the courtrooms. Unlike traditional law courts, the new scheme creates courts, hearing rooms and public space, all filled with natural light, as well as providing spectacular views across the city. Highly transparent clear-glazed atria, lifts and stairwells provide instant legibility and respond to the initial brief to make the workings of justice more transparent. Coloured steelwork also acts as an orientating device that is legible both in the broader context of the city and from within the building itself. The building, straddling a major highway, looks out to a large area of open land. The design creates ‘fingers’ of landscaped parkland which extend right into the heart of the Law Courts. When designing the new Law Courts building, Richard Rogers Partnership also focused a great deal of attention on the environmental aspects of this project and on the effective use of energy. Natural light is used to optimum effect, natural ventilation is supplemented by low-velocity ventilation for the hearing rooms and rainwater is recycled. The environmental strategy is based on utilising the thermal mass of the pre-cast concrete frame, the reduction of solar gain by high performance glazing and the use of external glazed louvres.


Design


The relationship of the new Law Courts with Bolivarplaats is a key factor in the design of the building. The relocation of the feeder road and restoration of the area as an important civic space includes proposals for landscaping with plane trees, to provide an informal meeting place. In addition, trees will form a backdrop to the approach to the courts from the Leien where pedestrians, rather than traffic, will have priority and be improved by a new tram, bus and cyclist infrastructure serving the plaats and connecting it to the existing city transport systems. A simple clarity between public and private space will enable way-finding, natural security and the signalling of a gateway into Antwerp from the south. In this context, the Salle des Pas Perdus is an extension of the Bolivarplaats and a physical continuation of the Amerikalei axis (main boulevard linking Bolivarplaats to the city centre). The placement of the civil and criminal courts to either side of this central space, crowned by a striking crystalline roof structure has created a visual beacon for the city, Bolivarplaats and the public space of the Salle des Pas Perdus. The Salle des Pas Perdus is located at the intersection of all the fingers, at the heart of the building, and architecturally forms the ‘glue’ that joins the distinct fingers. The ascent from Bolivarplaats to the main level on the second floor provides an appropriate entrance to the courts. This impressive glazed space is naturally lit and ventilated from the courtyards. Access to the courtrooms is via gently rising staircases from the central space. At the hearing room level, the Salle des Pas Perdus becomes a series of waiting areas relating to the hearing rooms themselves. The roofs of the hearing rooms are orientated to face north west and designed to admit daylight without solar glare. These changes give a more organically driven form to the gateway.


The offices are the working heart of the building. They are naturally lit and ventilated with a high degree of flexibility for reconfiguration as required over the life-span of the building. The offices comprise three of the six levels and occupy all six fingers. This arrangement maximises connectivity between and within departments, and ensures that the public functions adjoin the Salle des Pas Perdus, while those that are private are furthest away. Support functions are located at the lowest levels of the building below the public, judicial and office spaces. The central ‘Living Archive’ is located below the Salle des Pas Perdus and connected to the offices fingers. Communal staff areas such as the central library and restaurant are located at ground level between the office’s fingers with direct access to the landscaped courtyards. In the Antwerp Law Courts, the simplicity of the segregated circulation routes aids orientation and benefits from views across the courtyards as well as providing the necessary vertical and horizontal security. The built form will define a series of natural boundaries that significantly simplify the management of the building and create a flexible system that can easily adjust to cater for future growth and change.


Concept


The concept is a gateway response without monumentality, but with a roof form generated from perspective lines and Flemish paintings of barges passing through the countryside. The scheme inverts the traditional arrangement of a law courts by placing hearing rooms and public space on the top of the building, allowing views across the city. The private spaces below face onto courtyards, which provide quiet and daylit spaces contributing to a calming environment. It will extend to incorporate connections to parks, bridges and road, allowing clear views from the street and developing the city skyline. This building is a key inspiration to the masterplan for the ‘Nieuw Zuid’ (New South) which the team has developed with the City of Antwerp. The eight law courts within six linear wings are arranged around the Salle des Pas Perdus. The hearing rooms are the formal interface between the judiciary and the public. These spaces are placed above the office fingers and are accessed centrally from the Salle des Pas Perdus so that the hearing rooms and the public space flow over the top of the building. The principal hearing rooms are grouped around the Salle des Pas Perdus and frame the public space with the tallest of the roof structures. The smaller hearing rooms are arranged along the fingers under an undulating series of stainless steel roofs oriented to take advantage of light from the north. Service space for the hearing rooms is sandwiched between the hearing rooms and the offices below responding to a functional need to provide decentralised plant, while architecturally it separates the spaces above and below so that the hearing rooms appear to float over the building. The office wings overlook landscaped courtyards, allowing a natural link between the exterior and interior spaces. Public connections consider integrating the building with Konijnenwei Park (to the east) and Bolivarplaats (to the north). These connections will be furthered through the masterplan to reintegrate the city by providing east/west feeder roads linking the southern fringes.

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Project Year
2005

ANTWERP LAW COURTS

Distinguished by a sail-like timber roof, Antwerp Law Court gives new and dramatic expression to the southern edge of the city skyline. Intended to be a new landmark on Antwerp's horizon, the new law courts were to bridge an existing motorway. This created a major challenge, not just in structural engineering, but also in keeping traffic disruption to a minimum during the construction.


Arup responded by creating a bridge deck, supported on the motorway central reservation walls. This allowed the Salle des Pas Perdus, a vast central public space, to be constructed whilst the motorway remained in operation.


Each of the courtroom 'sail' roofs is formed by four interconnecting timber hyperbolic paraboloids. Each of these is supported by an elevated courtroom deck, formed from concrete pre-cast units bonded together. Connecting the roof 'sails' to these units was a crucial step. To ensure the feasibility of this process, Arup produced 3D models of the steelwork connections, which also demonstrated the aesthetic appeal of the design.


In order to minimise energy use, the courtrooms were designed with northlight high performance glazing, while the offices used both high performance glazing and solar shading louvres. To minimise interruption to courtroom proceedings, Arup's specialists installed a quiet ventilation system. The office spaces adopted a mixed mode ventilation system.


As well as fitting neatly into the existing landscape to provide a visually pleasing profile, this award-winning law court is a symbolic gateway to the city and a lively hub for the surrounding area.

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We shape a better world We are an independent firm of designers, planners, engineers, consultants and technical specialists offering a broad range of professional services. Through our work, we make a positive difference in the world. We shape a better world. Founded in 1946 with an initial focus on structural engineering, Arup first came to the world’s attention with the structural design of the Sydney Opera House, followed by its work on the Centre Pompidou in Paris. Arup has since grown into a truly multidisciplinary organisation. Most recently, its work for the 2008 Olympics in Beijing has reaffirmed its reputation for delivering innovative and sustainable designs that reinvent the built environment. Arup brings together broad-minded individuals from a wide range of disciplines and encourages them to look beyond the constraints of their own specialisms. This unconventional approach to design springs in part from Arup’s ownership structure. The firm is owned in trust on behalf of its staff. The result is an independence of spirit that is reflected in the firm’s work, and in its dedicated pursuit of technical excellence. A better way The power to influence the future of the built environment carries with it a weighty responsibility. Many of Arup’s projects leave a legacy to subsequent generations: a legacy that outlasts any one individual. With 10,000 projects going on at any one time, Arup is doing the best possible job for current and future generations. Putting sustainability at the heart of its work is one of the ways in which Arup exerts a positive influence on the wider world. Put simply, Arup people are driven to find a better way. Arup’s independent ownership structure gives conviction a place in its decision-making, alongside the needs of clients and commercial imperatives. The result is clear-sighted, thoughtful decisions about its priorities as a business and as a member of society. Arup influences many people’s lives through its projects. Shaping a sustainable future – particularly through the urban environment – will be one of the greatest challenges in the 21st century. Arup is rising to the challenge: investing in research, innovating and creating better solutions for its clients and the wider world. “…our lives are inextricably mixed up with those of our fellow human beings, and that there can be no real happiness in isolation…” Ove Arup, 1970. A people business Arup brings together professionals from diverse disciplines and with complementary skills, on a uniquely global scale. The depth of expertise and the sheer numbers of specialists allow Arup to take on complex, strategic projects that no other firm could have delivered. The UK’s first international high speed railway, High Speed 1, also known as the Channel Tunnel Rail Link, is just one example – completed on time and on budget. Clients trust Arup’s people to question a vision as well as help to realise it. Arup’s commitment to a sustainable approach to all its projects is both enshrined in a formal sustainability policy and embraced personally by the individuals that together make up the firm. Arup’s ownership structure actively reinforces this approach and holds the firm accountable to its own people for its independent approach, and to its social and corporate responsibility. Arup has a healthy mix of people with very different perspectives and from many cultures, working together, learning from each other and generously sharing their knowledge and ideas. International team-working is the stuff of everyday life for its people, who take advantage of the skills networks within the firm that allow easy collaboration between colleagues who may be on opposite sides of the world, but are working on the same or similar projects. Talented people join Arup for the opportunity it provides to work on some of the world’s most exciting projects, to develop a specialism of their own or simply to find their niche. The chance to work with some of the world’s leading experts, the range of professional opportunities, and the support and freedom for innovation means that Arup remains a magnet for many of the world’s most talented engineers and designers. Making a difference Arup’s work in the built environment leaves a significant legacy to subsequent generations. This power, to design and influence the built environment, carries with it a responsibility to do the best possible job for current and future generations. Putting sustainability at the heart of its projects is one of the ways in which Arup exerts a positive influence on the wider world. Investing in research and development is another: without such investment, innovation can be stifled. Without the capacity to innovate, our ability to combat the effects of climate change and other global issues would be compromised. Corporate responsibility is not simply a policy at Arup, but a way of w
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