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Court appeal The Booysens Magistrate’s Court in Oakdene, Johannesburg, jointly designed by Co-Arc International Architects and Consultium Architects and Urban Designers, represents a new generation of creatively designed government buildings. PHOTOGRAPHY SUPPLIED
The courtrooms themselves are treated with acoustic panels to ensure a soundproof interior, while natural materials such as timber introduce warmth and texture.
24 LEADINGARCHITECTURE & DESIGN JUNE/JULY 2019
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he new R242-million court at Oakdene in the south of Johannesburg, which was officially opened on 28 March 2019 by President Cyril Ramaphosa, is an example of a new generation of creatively designed governmental buildings that are welcoming to the public, with large open spaces and user-friendly public furniture. The new court was commissioned to make it more convenient for local communities to access justice services. Until now, communities were serviced by the Johannesburg Central Magistrate’s Court in the Johannesburg Central Business District. The new court offers a range of services to reduce the load on existing courts and is equipped with a sexual offences court to support victims of genderbased violence and femicide. Co-Arc International Architects were appointed, in a joint venture with Consultium Architects, to design the court, which was also
to serve as a standard for other new courts to be built in future. The combination of a sloping site and its location on the corner of Rifle Range Road, a major arterial road, and Amanda Avenue, presented a number of challenges to the brief in terms of the general foundational requirements for courts, which include complex security requirements and interface between the court’s various users and their functions. The prominence of the site makes for a dramatic statement. The building slots into the sloping site with a central movement system that essentially connects to the ground levels and “climbs up the hill” via generous stairs and ramps reflecting the natural landscape. A central triple-volume atrium flooded with natural light helps to provide clearly legible orientation prompts to the public, while organising the functional elements of the
