The winner of a Design-Build-Finance-Maintain (DBFM) competition, this new court facility is located on the Moira River in central Belleville. The design intent was to develop a strong dialogue between two of the city’s main civic buildings: the courthouse and City Hall, located across the river.
The building is oriented so its significant exterior and interior public spaces have a view of City Hall. This east-west orientation, slightly off the main city grid, emphasizes the building’s importance and also creates optimal conditions for sustainability strategies, including passive solar heating and daylight harvesting. A minimalist, modern design using local Ontario limestone gives a sense of gravitas to the building exterior, its civic stature further underlined by a dignified entrance forecourt and public square facing the downtown core.
The functional organization of the building creates a zone of public space on one side and more secure spaces on the other. Functions are vertically stratified according to the need for public access: on the ground floor, large courtrooms, ceremonial spaces and jury selection rooms are located, while less used and more secure spaces are placed near the top of the six-storey building.
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