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• Level of Award:

  Special Award

• Region:

  North West

• Local Authority Area:

  Manchester

• Owner:

  Allied London Properties Ltd

• Entrant:

  Denton Corker Marshall Ltd

• Architect:

  Denton Corker Marshall

• Developer:

  Allied London Properties Ltd

• Landscape Designer:

  Hyland Edgar Driver

• Services Engineer:

  Mott Macdonald

• Structural Engineer:

  Mott Macdonald

• Contractor:

  Bovis Lend Lease

• Quantity Surveyor:

  Gardiner & Theobald

• Inclusive Design Consultant:

  n/a

• Primary Use Class:

  D1 Non-Residential Institution
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Information about this winner

The largest court complex to be built in the UK since 1892, this scheme houses 47 courtrooms and 75 consultation rooms. The courts and public areas have natural ventilation and daylight, providing a pleasant working environment for staff. This new scheme is situated in the heart of Manchester’s Spinningfields quarter, which is in itself undergoing considerable regeneration. The design is innovative and has readdressed the form and layout for a building with a traditional function. The visual and acoustic separation between pubic and private areas is very good, and the building materials are very high quality, with spaces feel calming and relaxed. The courts themselves are vertically stacked and address a glazed atrium on one side. Unusually, pods within the atrium are used as meeting rooms.  Internal spaces and circulation routes are carefully considered and planned, allowing court officials and judges to access the courtrooms via independent routes away from the public areas.  These complicated circulation routes are critical to the function of the building, separating and protecting vulnerable witnesses. This is a dramatic building which is iconic and impressive at street level. The building creates its own aura and is commanding of its own character. The scheme is wonderfully abstract, and very assertive.