Supreme model
File under: architecture, Wellington
As requested, here's a photo of the Supreme Court model.
More than the renderings, this makes it clear that the copper-clad central courthouse is more ovoid than spherical, and that there's a slight separation between it and the surrounding square building. There will be large glass doors on the eastern (Lambton Quay) end, so that in theory passers-by should be able to see through these and the other glass walls to view the judges from the street (following the well-worn trope that being able to physically see the inside of the court somehow equates to having a "transparent justice system"). To facilitate that, and apparently for security reasons, the bus stops outside will probably have to be moved.
posted by Tom @ 3:00 pm
7 Comments:
very eggy. very.... moslem. Minarets needed? Imam calling?
oh nice design... looks so much better than what is there already
Better than a park to have lunch in? And where are they going to move the bus stops? They wouldn't work in front of the Occidental.
I know this might sound dumb, but minarets might be nice, because currently that is an ugly roof. Of course you won't see it from street level, but from the highrises that surround it...
i'm not sure if it's a trick of the light, but they need to rotate light spot on the button on the top.
that way it'll resemble an eye watching parliament.
as it is it looks like one of those domes full of surveillance cameras.
This model makes it a little clearer to me that it should be just that little bit higher. A few metres would make all the difference.
I wouldn't mind seeing some greenery entering the building though, by making it taller it might allow them to remove floor space to create some internal gardens, visible through its transparent curtain. Or a party green roof might help.
Despite the pretty wrapping, and the attempt to express the role of the court by peeping through the roof plane ala 1950s generic courthouses (so, so weak today), this is nothing more than a box. I was expecting something grander, but would have been happy with simply a nice work of architecture. This however, is so lacking in architectural (and urban) merit that it is beyond belief. Take away the superficial decoration, and this wouldn't look out of place in a megacentre...
I would have gone for something grander too, but the HPT would have thrown a hissy fit if it looked grander than thge old building.
I can't quite agree that it's without architectural merit, though. If anything, the screens over-complicate what could have been a very elegant minimalist glass box and obscure the view of the ovoid inside. Without the screens, and presuming good detailing, the simplicity of the box would have allowed the courtroom to stand out more: a bit like the Rose Center Planetarium in New York.
I'm definitely with the previous anonymous though: a green roof would be fantastic.
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