Civil Justice Centre

Standing in Spinningfields, next to the Crown Courts, the Civil Justice Centre provides the iconic centre piece for Manchester’s legal quarter. Featuring an impressive 11-storey atrium, spectacular cavity glass wall along its western edge and 60m high triangular atrium columns supporting the glass façade.

The Centre is as comprehensive as it is extensive. It comprises 15 levels, 47 courtrooms, 75 consultation rooms and can accommodate up to 4000 people. The working courts and offices are expressed as long rectilinear forms, articulated at each floor level, and projecting at each end of the building as a varied composition of solid and void.

It was intended that, above all, this project was to offer a cultural shift in the perception of the British public of what a court building should look like. One of the Centre’s most striking features is the cantilevered court rooms that project from each end, creating an impression of draws pulled from a filing cabinet.