South Korean construction giant Samsung C&T has won a major contract to build a new law courts complex in the city state of Singapore.
One of towers will be façade-free, to symbolise the openness of Singapore’s judicial system.
The new State Courts Towers (pictured), priced at $321m (S$450m), will accommodate more than 60 courtrooms and 50 hearing chambers, and will replace an older, smaller complex.
The design, by Serie + Multiply Consultants in collaboration with Singaporean firm CPG Consultants, won an open competition in 2012.
Samsung C&T will build two connected towers, 178m high, with an estimated gross floor area of 113,000 sq m.
The towers, one accommodating courts and the other offices, will be linked by sky bridges.
Terraces will have gardens to filter the tropical sun, and will give access to outside spaces with views across the city (Serie Architects)
Construction is due to start by the second quarter of this year and be complete in three years, with doors opening in 2020, the State Courts announced in a statement yesterday.
According to Serie Architects, the courtroom tower will have no enclosing façade, which is intended to symbolise the "openness and impartiality of the judicial process".
Instead, the tower is an open frame with shared terraces on which the courtrooms are placed. These terraces will have gardens to filter the tropical sun, and will give access to outside spaces with views across the city.
"The new courts complex should be a building that is symbolically open and accessible to the public," said Chris Lee, Principal at Serie Architects, when the design was revealed.
Top image: An artist’s render of State Courts Towers (Serie Architects)
