This 264,500 m² development, will provide accommodation for the judicial bodies of Barcelona and l’Hospitalet de Llobregat, rationalising 17 disparate locations. The building will accommodate two clearly defined types of spaces: office ambits and hearing rooms. Their relationship and the magnitude of the scheme (184 courtrooms) make for a highly complex organisation, with independent circulation systems for public, judges, detainees and juries. More than 15,000 people will work in the complex, requiring a significant area of support space. The proposal responds to the alignment of the surrounding streets with a series of linked buildings of various heights. Articulation is dictated by the different urban conditions at the corners of the site. The scheme ranges from 6 to 16 storeys, according to the urban context and includes an inner ring of buildings surrounding a large central landscaped amphitheatre. This contained space is the heart of the proposed scheme, offering a new north-south pedestrian link between the neighbourhoods of Santa Eulàlia and Pedrosa of l’Hospitalet.
The scheme has five main architectural elements:
Artificial Ground - defines main public movement across site and includes all the central support facilities. Law Galleria - creates the central spine of activity that binds all the buildings together. Court Tiers - Courtrooms with detainee access are located in the cascading floors of the inner ring under the roof of the Landscaped Amphitheatre, while non-detainee courts are located in the outer ring facing the surrounding streets. Ambit Office Rind - located above the Court Tiers, two parallel blocks enclose the central space. In between these blocks, an atrium allows natural light to penetrate to the Law Galleria.
Landscaped Amphitheatre - provides a dynamic inclined roof enclosure to the inner court tiers with circulation areas around the criminal courts, allowing natural light into the very heart of the building. Landscape and planting define the nature of this central space.
