Court Design in Session

15th November, 2011 by Gary Turton | 0 comments

Recently, Directors Junior Thompson and Gary Turton participated in a workshop entitled Court Facilities: A Primer for Planning, Design and Construction. The workshop was delivered by a partnership of the National Center for State Courts in the US and the Judiciary of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago. Junior and Gary are currently engaged in acla:works projects involving the design of court facilities. Junior is involved in completing the final report for the CDB funded Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court Halls of Justice Project in 9 jurisdictions in the OECS; acla:works won this commission in the final quarter of 2010. Gary is involved in refurbishment works and accessibility upgrades to the Hall of Justice in Port of Spain, originally designed by UK architect HKPA in collaboration with Anthony C. Lewis Associates [now acla:works] back in 1981.

The workshop provided acla:works with up-to-date information on the latest trends in court facility planning and design, as well as an opportunity to do an in depth review of a case study: the St. George West, Magistrates Court in Port of Spain. The workshop was equally useful for members of the judiciary, and other key users of court facilities in Trinidad and Tobago. It afforded the participants a broad view of the complex issues related to users, security, spatial adjacencies, and support systems, which are required for the proper function of a modern court. Whilst acla:works holds considerable experience in this area, the firm constantly welcomes opportunities to improve its expertise, and therefore is grateful that the Judiciary of Trinidad and Tobago invited the firm to participate in the workshop.

(above) Hall of Justice, Trinidad