Birstol Civil Justice Centre

The Bristol Civil Justice Centre (BCJC) provides a single location for all civil and family law work in the city and the region. These County Court functions were previously housed in unsuitable premises and the BCJC was needed to assist the Court Service in the professional delivery smooth running of its business in Bristol.

Her Majesty’s Courts and Tribunals Service (HMCTS) had assessed its anticipated future workload in the relevant areas of civil law work over a 25 year period and required a building containing 9 Civil Courts of varying size and complexity, and 6 District Judges’ Hearing Rooms, in which the majority of the court business is undertaken.

The site chosen for the building lies within the Redcliffe conservation area close to the floating harbour and the listed church of St Thomas the Martyr. Extensive consultation with local stakeholders such as Redcliffe Futures was undertaken to ensure the new building met the emerging masterplan aspirations for this part of Bristol. As a consequence, a new public piazza was proposed to provide appropriate townscape settings for BCJC and the church.

The internal planning of the building is ordered by principles of relationship that stem from the comprehensive HMCTS brief and a desire to make the building comprehensible to irregular users. This is allied with strong sustainability objectives to bring natural light and ventilation into all the spaces, in particular the Courtrooms which are internal. The building is set out by the diagram of Judiciary rooms with secure circulation, courtrooms, atrium and circulation space, and a further wing of common accommodation at the northern boundary. The atrium contains lifts, stairs and other common facilities with all parts of the building visible at the entrance to aid clarity and orientation. The working rooms follow regular plan forms, and the atrium takes a triangular shape providing circulation and interesting waiting areas that subdivide naturally into more discrete areas. This plan form is readily adaptable for the other levels of accommodation.