New Brisbane Supreme and District Court

A unique legal precinct

The new Brisbane Supreme Court and District Court building will create a unique legal precinct, linking the new building with a major public square and the existing Brisbane Magistrates Court. The precinct will occupy an entire city block between George, Roma and Turbot streets. Construction of the $570 million project officially began on 6 October 2008, with completion expected by mid 2012.

Public access to the precinct is excellent, with the Roma Street Station and King George Square bus station situated within 100 metres.

The new courthouse is unique in Australia, with the co-location of the Supreme Court and District Court providing significant operating efficiencies through the use of shared facilities. In other states, these courts are physically separate, which often leads to wasteful duplication of functions and services.

The new complex will deliver a new era of justice with greatly enhanced facilities for victims of crime, witnesses, jurors, lawyers, judges and members of the public

The building will also be physically integrated with Brisbane Magistrates Courts, using existing vehicle entrances and sharing some building systems.

A new court building for Brisbane

The existing court buildings are too small for the expected growth of the courts, no longer provide a standard of accommodation sufficient to meet the needs of court users and occupants and, because of their age, are increasingly expensive to maintain.

With approximately 60,000 square metres of floor space spread over 19 floors, the $570 million building will be one of the largest court buildings in Australia and will meet the needs of the courts for foreseeable future.

The building will provide:

• capacity for 45 courtrooms, including a large ceremonial court, Court of Appeal, 27 criminal courts and 17 civil courts
• accommodation for 68 judges
• mediation rooms
• separate internal circulation systems and access for judges, jurors, prisoners, vulnerable witnesses and members of the public
• a secure public garden
• an entire floor for the Supreme Court Library
• a basement cell block for people in custody
• closed-circuit television facilities and accommodation to enable child and vulnerable witnesses and victims to give evidence in a private and secure environment
• a jurors assembly area and lounge
• registry and administrative accommodation
• one plant level
• four levels of chambers.

The building design

The design will provide a radical departure from traditional court design, providing an open, accessible and transparent design in sharp contrast to the existing precast concrete courthouse.

Architectus Brisbane and Guymer Bailey Architects are the project architects. They won the design competition for the Supreme Court and District Court project and were awarded the design consultancy in June 2007.

The building's straightforward layout places the criminal courts in the George Street wing and the civil courts overlooking the new public square. The public and circulation spaces join the two wings and look out to the Roma Street frontage. The building forms a triangle bounded by George Street, Roma Street and the square.

The building has a double skin glass façade with integrated screening and glass fritting to achieve shading and light control. This façade will provide both outlook and privacy for those inside the building and an external appearance of lightness and transparency.

The design makes full use of natural light in all the courts, public waiting spaces and offices through a sophisticated system of glazed walls and layered screens. All courtrooms and jury rooms have one external glass wall, along with internal walls with high level glass allowing passage of light from public areas. The result is a light open courthouse, comprised of generously scaled and simply detailed internal spaces of dignity and presence.

The inclusion of internal and external gardens and courtyards throughout the building responds to the character of the sub-tropical environment and promotes healthy workplaces. All public areas have extensive views over adjacent streets, the square or parkland.

Benefits for the community

The courthouse will feature an impressive public square as part of the state Government’s commitment to making the central business district more people-friendly.

The design also contributes immensely to the urban realm of the city, creating a major new public square for Brisbane, and completing and defining both the existing powerful George Street civic axis and the new Tank Street pedestrian axis.

The civic square will include large shade trees and a community green where city workers and visitors will be able to relax on the grass, eat their lunch or read a book.

Environmentally, the focus on natural light and climate control, smart electricals, water harvesting and recycling will aim for the equivalent of a five-star greenhouse rating.

Sustainability and innovation

Modern environmental technology

There are a range of sustainability measures in the building including water harvesting and recycling, passive solar design, recycled building materials, low-energy air cooling systems, the use of the double glass cavity and photovoltaic (solar) cells.

A project-specific ESD Design Assessment Rating Tool (based on anequivalency rating to GBCA) has been produced as part of the design stage and also addresses sustainable practices during construction.

• Environmental Management Plan in place in accordance with ISO 14001. Lend Lease site sheds include Rainwater Harvesting for site amenities.
• Purchasing green power through Origin Energy for site power supply.
• Backfilling utilising recycled crushed concrete.

Information technology

The new courthouse will incorporate the latest justice technology, including a state-of-the-art recording suite to take evidence from children and other vulnerable witnesses, digital audio for transcription services and free wireless broadband access for lawyers and other court users.

State-of-the-art information technology systems will be used throughout all aspects of the building to facilitate security, digital recording, secure data transmission, and voice/video-conferencing facilities for all court proceedings. The high-tech management of data will improve efficiencies in operations and increase the quality of every user’s experience, including the public, staff, jurors, and sensitive witnesses.

There is also structural capacity for future technical innovation to keep pace with new forms of evidence and legal procedure over the life of the building.

Recycling

The managing contractor has advised approximately 80 per cent of site waste will be recycled.

Construction

Building contractor

Lend Lease is the managing contractor for the project. Lend Lease recently completed the Millennium Arts project, Preparatory Year of Schooling project and Brisbane Correctional Centre and Arthur Gorrie Correctional Centre for the Queensland Government.

Safety

We have a number of onsite safety controls that exceed current Workplace Health and Safety requirements. The surrounding public will be protected via overhead gantries and specialised traffic management at the site entry. Most deliveries are planned to be brought inside the site boundary to minimise interaction with the public.

Quality assurance systems

Lend Lease quality management systems meet the requirements of SGS Systems and Services Certification - ASO 9001

Disruption to the local area

Works will be conducted within the working hours outlined by Environmental Protection Authorities (EPA) guidelines. Any works outside of these guidelines will be subject to Brisbane City Council approval.

In the immediate stages, there will be limited disruptions for the public and adjoining neighbours as construction works will be primarily contained within the site boundary.
We plan to complete haulage on Saturdays to ensure limited impact on the local traffic, especially during peak hours.

Given the scale of the project, minimal disruption is anticipated. Adjoining neighbours and stakeholders will receive newsletters updating them on site and project activities and notices regarding any additional noise works outside of normal working hours.

Staff

It is anticipated that staff will be employed locally. The project is expected to create up to 5,000 jobs in total. Approximately 4,000 people will be inducted on site over the course of the project with up to 450 people at work on site at any one time.

Cranes

There will be three cranes onsite. The first crane was erected on 22 March 2009 and is the largest capacity crane ever erected in Brisbane with a maximum lifting capacity of approximately 48 tonne and lifting radius of 67 metres. The second will be erected in May with the third in approximately June 2009.