Courthouse

Kiva: / kēvə / n. A chamber built wholly or partly underground; used by Pueblo Indians for religious rites, political meetings, and spiritual ceremonies. The true origins of southwestern architecture can be traced back to 1200 AD when the Pueblo people constructed a city in the recesses of the Mesa Verde cliffs in Montezuma County. These 4-story buildings contained multiple dwelling units, community gathering spaces, and Kivas surrounding central courtyards. The buildings were oriented to the south with mass walls and small apertures to respond to the intense desert heat and diurnal temperature swings. Caption The conceptual design of the 33,000 SF Montezuma County Courthouse takes its cues from this ancestral city while also referen... More

The new court of “A Parda”, promoted by the board of the Galician Government, is conceived with the intention of regrouping all the courts in the city of Pontevedra, while creating the space needed in the next years. The new building is communicated with the old one through a walkway, forming both a single functional unit.    The exterior image of the building is given by two clear conditions, such as the urban area and the adjacent architecture, especially the existing court. This is why the new building façade is based on curve wedges and serial windows.   At the urban level, the building is situated on a trapezoidal plot situated at a considerably high level compared to the train’s arrival and... More

Facing justice is an experience that disconnects us from the usual discourse of life. How and to what extent can architecture affect our behavior, soothe or exacerbate our feelings? What is conventional is that the solemnity, the order and the rigor of architecture are there to signify the authority of Justice. For the litigant or for the one who demands justice, subjected to the test of his vulnerability, shouldn’t we expect architecture to be welcoming, soothing the effects of a suffered violence?    Architecture must have meaning. It must speak, tell stories and make us question: a site, a program, a group of people and a story. It is a matter of specificity since architecture is the art of conjunction.    O... More

The Karnes County Courthouse Restoration project represents the culmination of a ten plus year effort to return a small Texas County’s beloved courthouse back to its original 1894 glory. The project was spearheaded by the unwavering support of the local historical society and the County government.One of the goals for the project, other than fully restoring the building, was to ensure the project would have a positive impact on the local community. Our first opportunity came during the programming phase where we worked with the County to establish a building committee of public and private officials to oversee the design and construction of the project. Maximizing the building’s daily activity and community use became the primary emphasis i... More

New construction for the temporary courthouse Amsterdam, jointly designed by cepezed & cepezedinterior. Together with the existing towers E and F, the new construction of approximately 5.400 m2 will be part of the temporary courthouse on the grounds of the current Parnascomplex along the Parnassusweg. Here, the larger part of the jurisdiction will take place during the five years that a new permanent housing will be developed on the same parcel. For both the temporary and the permanent new construction, the existing complex will partially be demolished. Within the construction, quintessential processes of the courthouse will have their course. Consequently, the demands are high. For example, the interim-character of the building may not de... More

With its three plinth floors and five upper storeys the courthouse is the focus of the site. The three floors in the plinth serve as a “distributor” with a three-storey hall and an impressive entrance area. Together with the site boundary they establish a building line that defines the adjoining street space on Feldkirchner Strasse. The cross-section of the area between the courthouse and the elongated office and commercial building allows an arcade-type situation to develop that connects the forecourt to the north with the planted area to the south of the building. Whereas the square to the north of the court building is intended as a car-park for the supermarket and serves as a buffer zone to Feldkirchner Strasse for the office area... More

The project is the winner of the architectural design competition which came to life with complete respect to its original design. Blocks of the building connected to each other with its surrounding landscape not only with its plan schemes but also with its mass composition by placing various gallery halls, which also helps to create a transparent effect on the façade. In addition, emphasizing the transparency of the courthouse is one of the most important characteristic property of the building. Besides its transparency, front façade underlines the significance of the court with its massive, monumental appearance with the use of stone clad surfaces.. The systems that our subsidiary in Turkey used in the Project of TC Supreme Court i... More