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Southampton Magistrate Court

Hampshire County Council Architecture and Design Services, Southampton, 1999

 

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Nick Kane/Arcaid (website)     Download Original

  •     
  • The atrium on the public side of the courts. This space feels more open when looking out on the garden from the inside    
  • The south wall of well-daylit corridors. The south-facing windows on projecting bays are for ducted daylighting and ventilation of the lower courts. The windows above and below in bays are to magistrates’ retiring rooms outside each court    
  • The pedestrian entrance to the courts, indicating the open space beyond. Administrative offices are to the left     
  • The south wall of well-daylit corridors. The south-facing windows on projecting bays are for ducted daylighting and ventilation of the lower courts. The windows above and below in bays are to magistrates’ retiring rooms outside each court    
  • One of the lower level, more formal courts with daylight ducted from south wall entering to the left. Note the architect-designed light fittings    
  • One of the upper level, less formal courts with glazed block panel onto the atrium to the north. Blinds are needed for audiovisual presentations    
  • Site plan    
  • Upper ground plan    
  • Second floor plan    
  • Section A-A    
  • Section B-B    
  • Section    
  • Section D-D    
  • Detail of steel truss    
  • Connection detail    

Court rooms and facilities to house permanent staff, magistrates, police, care officers and visitors

The Long and narrow plot is the remains of a larger site where the adjacent crown courts were built. Within this constrained site, the building had to be kept back 15m from the roads on three sides for security reasons, leaving an even narrower footprint.

The building layout is simple. The reception is entered from the pedistrian entrance on The Avenue alongside the administrative offices. Beyond this, the building divides into two vertically, the court side and the public side, the latter wrapped in a north-facing curved atrium that sweeps down as roof and wall.

The public side is predominantly two open-sided floors within the atrium,
longside two levels of courts. The courts themselves are largely enclosed boxes.

The rooftop ‘chimneys’ have a mixed servicing role as air outlets and services housings – this is not a totally stack-driven ventilation building
ll the courts are lined to about 2.5 meters high with American white oak acoustic paneling, with plaster above.

Data

  • Begun: May 1997
  • Completed: Feb 1999
  • Floor area: 6,270m2
  • Sector: Civic
  • Total cost: £9.9M
  • Tender date: Nov 1996
  • Procurement: JCT 80 with Quantities
  • Address: 100 The Avenue, Southampton, SO17 1EY, United Kingdom