Brisbane Magistrates Court

There is a tension between the urban design goal to foster lively city streets, lined by active ground-floor uses, and the architecture of state security. Other ‘big’ architecture can also fail in this respect, but the buildings of officialdom are the biggest offenders. Brisbane Magistrates Court is a good example.

As a piece of architecture the building has many qualities. It is striking in its form and scale. A tower of stylish yet transparent authority. The public spaces inside are light and airy, and the courtrooms comfortable and calm, almost intimate in some cases. The building no doubt provides a benchmark for court functionality, for staff and visitors.

As an example of human-scaled urbanism Brisbane Magistrates Court is less impressive. The building is set back from its main address on George St, and in its shape seems to point the other way towards Roma Street Parklands. Yes, sculpture is prominent around the place, but its benefit to the public realm is little more than look-at-me. Good urban design is so much more than public art.

The treatment of the perimeter of the building at ground level on Turbot and Roma Streets is dominated by solid walls and service vehicle access. There are few windows, let alone the retail, commercial or dining that could provide much needed activation to these streets. In this sense the building follows the examples of nearby Brisbane Transit Centre and Queensland Police Headquarters. These monoliths are virtually devoid of street level interest or activities as well, making Roma Street one of the least comfortable pedestrian environments in the city. It is not a place to linger. That a major court and police headquarters should contribute to this status is sadly ironic.

Most strangely, the design for Brisbane Magistrates Court attempts to erode Roma Street’s pedestrian potential even further, by providing the ramp for a pedestrian bridge, yet unbuilt, from the corner of site towards Roma Street Parklands. The desired axis of movement from the parklands to Kurilpa Bridge and GOMA beyond is creditable and necessary. But it is incongruous to us that with Brisbane’s repeated failed experiments in separating people from street level that such a design could be proposed here. Roma Street itself is so much in need of pedestrian traffic. We cross our fingers and hope the bridge never gets built.