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| Richard Rogers Partnership delivers a new Antwerp court house On 28 March the new law courts for City of Antwerp will be formally opened by King Albert II. This is one of RRP's major public buildings of the early 21st century. The site for the law courts is at the Bolivarplaats, on the southern edge of Antwerp's central area, where the urban fabric is broken by a massive motorway interchange, cutting off the boulevard that leads into the city. The new building is one of the catalysts for RRP's long-term masterplan of "the new south" of the city, currently in progress. RRP is the lead architect of the new building, designed in conjunction with Belgian co-architects VK Studio. It houses eight distinct civil and criminal courts and includes 36 courtrooms plus offices, chambers for judges and lawyers, library and cafeteria, with a great public hall (the space traditionally known as the "Salle des Pas Perdus") linking six radiating wings of accommodation. Richard Rogers Partnership is committed to schemes which create successful public space and enliven inner-city areas. Projects recently completed include the new National Assembly for Wales in Cardiff and Barajas Airport, Madrid . RRP has also designed a 48-storey tower in the City of London which now has planning permission as well as an award-winning primary school near Kyoto and a City Academy in East London. RRP is well known for iconic structures such as Lloyd's of London and the Millennium Dome. In the USA, the practice has recently won the international competition to redesign the Javits Conference Center, is masterplanning Manhattan's redevelopment of the East River Waterfront, as well as designing a major mixed - use scheme for Silvercup Studios adjacent to the Queensboro Bridge and a significant residential development in West Chelsea. In Spain, the practice is also working on a high-rise hotel and conference centre at l'Hospitalet, the redevelopment of a bullring as an entertainment complex in Barcelona, and a winery near Valladolid. Masterplanning forms about one third of all work: key masterplans include the 120-hectare Greenwich Peninsula, 115 hectares of docklands near Lisbon, two projects in Rome and Mantova and a mixed-use scheme on a 4.6 hectare site in Yoido, Seoul, proposing 40 per cent of external public space. write your comments about the article :: © 2006 Construction News :: home page |