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New Supreme Court Building

The vision for the new Supreme Court is to equip Singapore's legal system with a courthouse that meets the demands of the twenty-first century. The building's architecture aims to conjure up images of dignity, justice, history, judicial weight, transparency and accessibility — qualities representative of Singapore's legal system.


The court comprises a nine-storey building with four basements and 35 courtrooms, of which 21 are civil courts, 11 are criminal courts and the remaining three, appeal courts. It also houses associated offices and other facilities, including an auditorium, a library, a cafeteria and a gymnasium. In order to harness the benefits of information technology to improve work processes and procedures, the Technology Courts employ the Electronic Filing System, Digital Transcription System and Video Conferencing System for a streamlined, paperless litigation system.


The building employs a palette of high-quality materials, including glazed stone, which appears solid but allows filtered daylight into the building while emitting a gentle glow from the interior lighting at night. The cantilevered balconies, which are also the gangways for facade maintenance, shade the office spaces from direct sunlight during the day.


Symbolically raised above the civil courts in a dramatic metal disc, the Court of Appeal occupies the highest part of the building. The disc corresponds to the dome of the old Supreme Court building and hence offers a contemporary reinterpretation of this historical architectural device. Coated with reflective material, the surface of the roof below the disc bounces daylight onto the underside of the disc and back down into the central atrium.

Project name New Supreme Court Building
Location Singapore
Completion Date 2005
Site Area 9300 m²
Gross Floor Area (GFA) 57,800 m²
Typology Security
Governance
Project Cost SGD 200,000,000.00
Client Supreme Court
    BCA Best Buildable Design Awards 2007 (Gold)
    BCA Universal Design Mark Awards 2010 (Bronze)
    Category: Institutional Buildings
    IES Prestigious Engineering Achievement Awards 2006
    SSSS Steel Design Awards 2007 (Commendation)