Nearly two years after the topping-out ceremony officiated by The Honourable Chief Justice Sundaresh Menon, the new State Courts towers standing at 1 Havelock Square today is fully operational, and is the tallest government building in Singapore to date. The new State Courts towers was designed by Serie + Multiply Consultants Pte Ltd, winner of a public two-stage open design competition organised by the State Courts in 2011. The project was developed and completed in collaboration with CPG Consultants Pte Ltd which is the Principal Consultant and Architect.

▼建筑概览，Exterior view © Finbarr Fallon

Courtroom complexes are typically designed in a conservative manner partly due to complex circulation requirements to keep the judges, persons-in-custody, and the public separate.

Christopher Lee, Principal at Serie Architects, UK comments, “The relationship between the city and its civic buildings was our primary interest for this project. The new State Courts towers should be a building that is symbolically open and accessible to the public. Its design language is drawn from the architecture typical of the city and hence is both familiar and surprisingly new to its citizens.”

In contrast, the new State Courts towers have been designed to be highly open and visible to the public. This is achieved with two architectural strategies. First, the building is split into two slender towers connected by link bridges. The front tower accommodates courtrooms and the back tower the judges’ chambers and staff’s offices. This architectural move not only brings light deep into the building but helps keep the circulation of the judges, persons-in-custody, and the public separate.

▼建筑被分为两个细长的体量，并通过连桥贯通 © Finbarr Fallon The building is split into two slender towers connected by link bridges

▼连桥外部近景，Exterior view towards the link bridges © Finbarr Fallon