Groleger Architects awarded an equal second prize in the architectural competition for the new court building in Ljubljana
The competition was a great challange in terms of the programme, rigid regulative of the competition brief and the complexity of the location, which is adjacent to the future city boulevard and part of the new administrative district forming along the railyards.
The programme is comprising courts offices and public programme on ground floor and major public parking underground. In total 31.000 m2 above ground and some 6.000 m2 below.
The main design idea was to create an image of modern democracy: ones of presence and dignity yet open and transparent. Transparency stands for clarity, truth and honesty, consequently the building envelope was designed as a slim and elegant eight storey glass shell, with the individual court's distributed into five distinct towers.
Viewed by passers-by, the entire façade towards the boulevard appears to dematerialize into an elegantly refined crystalline landmark.
Both eastern and western corners of the building are important anchor points: one towards the cultural center the other one towards the Old Town.
From the boulevard, the building is approachable through two entrances in a very clear and direct way.
The lack of potential space for public domain in front of the building lead to the concept of placing the »public« vertically onto the building's boulevard façade, introducing through this three storey »vertical plaza« a strong visually connecting. The longitudinal distribution of the courtrooms creates a meandering, free-flowing interior landscape, alowing flexibility in size and disposition in the future.
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