Supreme Court revels in more shortlist glory
By Design Daily Team,
Wellington’s new Supreme Court building is on a role. Along with its nomination in the 2010 World Architecture Festival Awards, the Warren and Mahoney designed building has also been shortlisted for the prestigious IStructE Structural Awards.
“It is gratifying that a New Zealand heritage building is receiving recognition at the highest levels on the world stage,” says Warren and Mahoney director Roy Wilson.
The project involved the construction of a new Supreme Court building, together with the restoration of the neighbouring 130-year-old High Court, a Category I historic building.
The
new two-storey Supreme Court building symbolises the transparency of New
Zealand’s justice system. Its design aims to complement, not overpower, its
venerable partner, the old High Court.
Holmes
Consulting Group provided structural engineering support and helped ensure that
several key design features that required significant structural input achieved
the desired aesthetics. These elements include the external bronze screen that
relates to the adjacent heritage building, the spectacular main courtroom and
the elegant helical access stair.
“Integrating
the two contrasting buildings presented both architectural and structural
challenges. The unique nature of the project required a holistic design
approach to ensure the architecture, structure and services could co-exist in
harmony,” says Wilson.
Project
director with Holmes Consulting Eva Cutriss says the project has shown how old
and new can be successfully integrated.
“The restoration of this significant heritage building and introduction
of the new Supreme Court required the use of specialist techniques and
cutting-edge technology to deliver a quality project,” she says.
The
structural solution addresses the high seismic activity of Wellington,
delivering a spectacular modern building and minimal structural intrusion into
the heritage building.
The World Architecture Festival Awards launched in 2008 and showcase the work of the international architectural community, while the IStructE Structural Awards were established in1968 to reward the work of the world’s most talented structural designers, bringing to light projects that lead the industry's development.
Warren and Mahoney are heading to Barcelona in November to present their case to the World Architecture Festival Award judges, while a Holmes Consulting team will travel to the UK in November for the IStructE Structural Awards.
Check out Idealog’s story on the Supreme Court here.
Photo credit: Paul McCredie
Anonymous comments on this post are disabled. Please sign up to post a new comment.