It's a moot point: courting real life experiences

“Our brief for the moot court was to create something that was contemporary, with the latest audio visual equipment that would be encountered in the most sophisticated real court environment,” says architect Simon Topliss, an associate director of JCB, who worked closely with the practice’s director, architect Graham Burrows.

Interior designer Geraldine Maher, director of Maher Design, also collaborated on this project given her extensive experience in court design, including her work on the Supreme Court of Western Australia.

“Part of the brief included an entirely paperless environment,” adds Topliss.

Originally completed in 1968 by architect Nigel Jenkins, the low-rise law building will eventually be entirely reworked over a number of stages.

This time, the focus was at ground level, repositioning the original moot court (located to one side) and transforming many of the previously enclosed offices on the perimeter into contemporary workspaces for students today.

One of the key drivers in JCB Architects’ design was the original coffered in situ concrete ceiling, starting in the foyer.

“The coffered ceiling is obviously the heroic gesture that we wanted to celebrate,” says Topliss, who with his colleagues, discovered that part of the feature ceiling had been concealed behind plaster.

“The idea was to bring the moot court into the ‘heart’ of the plan, aligning this to the front entrance.”

To accentuate the ceiling, everything else, such as the new joinery, has been ‘pulled back’.

Many of the internal walls were removed and joinery elements, framed in steel, ‘skim’ the ceiling, rather than being attached.

The new white terrazzo floor tiles not only create a nod to the 1960s, but also lighten the once heavier palette, including exposed brick flooring that was common at the time.

Timber batten ceilings define the lounge areas, framed by built-in planter boxes.

JCB Architects also reworked the floor plan to allow for flexible workspaces, with active study areas located on the north side of the building and more passive areas to the south.

Pivotal to the design is the moot court, visible in the distance upon arrival.

One’s eye can be drawn through to the court when the bladed pivotal acoustic doors are left open.

A second lounge area beyond these doors allows the court to be expanded should the audience be greater than the 60-odd seats provided.

“The word ‘flexibility’ was raised several times in our initial discussions, including the ability to hold a law expo here once a year,” says Topliss.

For the moot court itself, JCB took inspiration from the coffered ceiling, using the soft edges within each alcove to inspire some of the built-in joinery.

The judge’s bench, for example, features soft fluted timber edges, in contrast to the more severe terrazzo-clad walls framing the witness box and the jury’s platform.

“The arrangement and height levels were also dictated by the need for the jury to be able to have a clear view of each witness,” says Topliss.

Integral to the design was also the need to install state-of-the art audiovisual equipment, creating a ‘seamless’ design.

Pop-up screens and cameras allowing offsite witnesses to be part of the process make this court far more than an aesthetically pleasing design.

“The court can call on a judge working in the CBD to preside in certain cases,” says Topliss, who was as mindful of the light quality needed in this court.

While not apparent, the waffle-style coffered ceiling in the moot court was carefully reworked to conceal lighting, speakers and even cameras.