| This project is located in a city rich with history. Having been part of France, Spain, and England, its fortifications were continually destroyed and rebuilt. The building is located on a plateau (Chemerault), the remains of a Vauban stronghold with traces of archaeological excavations still apparent. The courthouse establishes an exchange between architecture, landscape, and history in a composition of views, landscaping, and the revival of a buried curtain wall. The materials used are radically different from those of the premises. The structure containing the courtrooms is anchored heavily in the ground. The administrative offices are raised aloft, allowing for the passage of the curtain wall as well as for a view from the entry hall onto the exterior premises and surrounding countryside. The distribution of the building gives for three entities: the courthouse square, the entry hall, the archaeological garden. |
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