Brisbane Magistrates Court building

The Brisbane Magistrates Court building is located at 363 George Street, Brisbane in Queensland, Australia. The building is one of the many locations in the state that houses the Magistrates Court of Queensland.

Brisbane Magistrates Court
General information
Location	Brisbane, Queensland
Address	363 George Street
Country	Australia
Coordinates	27°28′05″S 153°01′18″E
Current tenants	Magistrates Court of Queensland
Groundbreaking	23 September 2002 (2002-09-23)[1]
Opened	16 November 2004
Cost	A$135.5m
Technical details
Floor count	14
Design and construction
Architecture firm	Cox Rayner Architects AB+M[2]

Location and features

The building is a modern, purpose-built facility which currently contains 26 courtrooms. These include a dedicated Murri Court, two Coroners courts and four Small Claims hearing rooms.^[3][4] The building has the capacity to expand to 39 courtrooms.^[4]

Construction started in September 2002 and the building was opened on 16 November 2004 by the Premier, Peter Beattie. The total budget for the project was A$135.5 million.

The building was designed to provide improved support for victims and their families, and to vulnerable witnesses.

It also contains a range of environmentally sustainable design initiatives including economy-cycle air conditioning, energy efficient lighting, rainwater tanks that hold 46 000 litres of water for use on external landscaping, motion sensors that lower air-conditioning and lighting when rooms are unoccupied, extensive use of passive sun control and low energy glass, solar hot water, and waste streaming systems.

Public art

The Brisbane Magistrates Court building is one of the largest infrastructure projects to incorporate the Queensland Government's Art Built-in policy, which requires two per cent of the capital works budget to be spent on art projects within the development. The building features a range of public artworks including sculptures, murals and paintings.^[5]

References

1. Moore, Leah (27 September 2002). "Brisbane Magistrates Court's new complex to generate 1300 jobs". The Courier-Mail (1 - First with the news ed.). p. 36.
2. "Designing ways". The Courier-Mail (J - Generic Tabloid ed.). 16 November 2004. p. 6.
3. Beattie, Peter (16 November 2004). "Investment in law and order". The Courier-Mail (J - Generic Tabloid ed.). p. 2.
4. Welford, Rod (16 November 2004). "Busy court is the place to be heard". The Courier-Mail (J - Generic Tabloid ed.). p. 2.
5. Giles, Darrell (24 October 2004). "Legal eagles get thrown a curly one". The Sunday Mail (2 - State - Main Country ed.). p. 39.

External links

• Urban design review of Brisbane Magistrates Court