Bordeaux Law Courts
The design concept involved ‘liberating’ the court-rooms from the ‘box’. The timber-clad solution employs a mix of high technology, computer-controlled machinery and traditional craftsmanship.
Richard Rogers Partnership (RRP, now Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners, RSH+P) won the international competition to design new law courts for the historic city of Bordeaux in 1992. The design was for a building that would, through a feeling of transparency and openness, create a positive perception of the accessibility of the French judicial system. The brief was complex, requiring complete separation of public and judicial circulation. By pulling the building into its constituent parts, the resulting transparency encourages a sense of orientation, rendering an historically imposing institution more accessible.
Key elements of the design include the creation of public space and integration with the existing urban landscape. Public entry to the building is via a flight of stairs placed to the side, leading to the ‘Salle des Pas Perdus’ at the core of the building, where lawyers, their clients and the public meet.
The seven courtroom pods are clad in cedar, raised on pilotis above the limestone plinth within a great glass curtain wall under an undulating copper roof. The administrative offices are reached by bridges spanning the atrium – the clarity of the plan ensuring that different secure routes across the atrium are maintained both for the public and for magistrates. With its use of irregular forms and natural materials, the building successfully complements its sensitive environs, including a section of the city’s medieval wall. A strong emphasis is placed on effective passive control systems. The pods are shaded beneath the great roof and manually-operated brise-soleil windows along the western façade reduce solar gain. The flask-like volumes allow daylight deep into the court rooms and, through their height, ensure temperature control through stratification. The glazed box wrapping around the chambers, with its sun-screening and ventilation systems incorporated within the roof, functions as a breathing container. In addition, the podium and offices are built in concrete – a very effective passive heat control system.
Project information:
- Place / Date: Bordeaux, France 1992—1998
- Client: Tribunal de Grande Instance
- Cost: £27 million
- Gross Internal Area: 25,000m²
- Architect: Richard Rogers Partnership
- Structural Engineer: Ove Arup & Partners/OtH Sud-Ouest
- Services Engineer: OtH Sud-Ouest/Ove Arup & Partners
- Quantity Surveyor: Interfaces, Ingèrop
- Acoustic Consultant: Sound Research Laboratories
- Cladding Consultant: Rice Francis Ritchie
- Landscape Architect: Dan Kiley/Edward Hutchison/Branch Associates
- Lighting Consultant: Lighting Design Partnership
- Main Contractor: Spie Citra Midi Atlantique
- Site Management: OtH Sud-Ouest
Click here to see the full job sheet.
--RSHP
Featured articles and news
Shading for housing, a design guide
A look back at embedding a new culture of shading.
The Architectural Technology Awards
The AT Awards 2025 are open for entries!
ECA Blueprint for Electrification
The 'mosaic of interconnected challenges' and how to deliver the UK’s Transition to Clean Power.
Grenfell Tower Principal Contractor Award notice
Tower repair and maintenance contractor announced as demolition contractor.
Passivhaus social homes benefit from heat pump service
Sixteen new homes designed and built to achieve Passivhaus constructed in Dumfries & Galloway.
CABE Publishes Results of 2025 Building Control Survey
Concern over lack of understanding of how roles have changed since the introduction of the BSA 2022.
British Architectural Sculpture 1851-1951
A rich heritage of decorative and figurative sculpture. Book review.
A programme to tackle the lack of diversity.
Independent Building Control review panel
Five members of the newly established, Grenfell Tower Inquiry recommended, panel appointed.
Welsh Recharging Electrical Skills Charter progresses
ECA progressing on the ‘asks’ of the Recharging Electrical Skills Charter at the Senedd in Wales.
A brief history from 1890s to 2020s.
CIOB and CORBON combine forces
To elevate professional standards in Nigeria’s construction industry.
Amendment to the GB Energy Bill welcomed by ECA
Move prevents nationally-owned energy company from investing in solar panels produced by modern slavery.
Gregor Harvie argues that AI is state-sanctioned theft of IP.
Experimental AI housing target help for councils
Experimental AI could help councils meet housing targets by digitising records.
BSRIA Occupant Wellbeing survey BOW
Occupant satisfaction and wellbeing tool inc. physical environment, indoor facilities, functionality and accessibility.