schneider+schumacher win architecture competition in China
In a competition run in September and October this year, schneider+schumacher have won the contract to build a new courthouse for the Chinese city of Shenzhen. The proposed Justice Center will be a key component in an urban development area of 45 hectares, which will be completed by 2020.
The design seeks to visually express the three pillars of justice – clarity, decisiveness and transparency – while simultaneously providing the judiciary with practical and efficient functional spaces. The building’s external appearance has been designed with emblematic scales of justice in mind. While there is no explicit reference to this, the idea nevertheless finds its expression in the four beams of the upper building volumes which together ‘balance’ on a 14-metre-high plinth. This plinth houses the reception area, a café and a museum, as well as the large courtroom reached via an inclusive-access ramp. The beams thus function not only as constructional elements; they are also a crucial factor in the overall design. Their brilliant white appearance and gentle contours announce this as the site of a noteworthy public institution. One that – in spite of its clearly discernable internal structures – nonetheless remains transparent.