Originally established in 1841, formerly known as the Supreme Court (1980) this project involved the full refurbishment the Auckland High Court, in three stages.

Over the centuries, this Court building has grown and expanded to accommodate the contemporary requirements of New Zealand’s judicial system. Located in a quiet fringe of Auckland Central, sitting between Auckland CBD, the University of Auckland, and various green spaces.

The AucklandHigh Court and Court of Appeal Consolidation project involved a refurbishment of the existing building to accommodate for a combined civil and criminal High Court registry, a new non-custodial civil courtroom, and a refresh of the historic portion of the building repurposed to accommodate for the relocation of the Court of Appeal.

With a building of significant cultural heritage value, the objective was to conserve the existing fabric of the historic building as much as possible, and any interventions must not detract from the historic elements within the space. Careful and rigorous investigation of the heritage significance of each item were documented in an inventory produced by the Heritage consultant, Chessa Stevens, from WSP Opus, to determine what can and cannot be touched. Any damage to historic items were to be restored, and any new interventions needed to complement and match the quality of the historic fabric.

The interior refurbishment facilitated the consolidation of the combined Civil and CriminalHigh Court Registry and Court of Appeal facility (previously located in the Auckland District Court), as well as introducing a new public interface.

The works included a new non-custodial Civil Courtroom, the re-purposing of Courtroom 3 (Historic building) as a common room for the Court of Appeal, the introduction of Judges' chambers, along with supporting associated office spaces, and a general refresh of the historic building with new finishes.

The project maintains a sympathetic and considered design that complements the existing historic features while promoting functional features of strict security, designing for complex building services requirements, and working within an existing, historic built environment.

Local timbers, broadloom carpets, stone features and brass accents were used to complement the finishes of the existing facility. The construction was a light-touch refurbishment with steel framing used throughout the project where new partitions and ceilings were installed. This enabled the project to achieve innovative solutions to and strict acoustic requirements within the challenging constraints of the existing fabric. A unique ‘sandwich’ Rondo ceiling system was developed to achieve acoustic insulation to mitigate the heritage complexities and spatial constraints in the existing ceiling.

This system brought its own challenges, with the new ceiling needing to accommodate and appreciate existing door architraves and cornices.

WSP Opus provided heritage conservation expertise for the refurbishment of historic spaces, and our acoustic sub-consultant Earcon ensured the acoustics of the spaces were well-considered.

We worked closely with the end-users of the spaces to rigorously develop the design to ensure their needs were met. This collaborative relationship resulted in a very pleased stakeholder group, including the High Court Judges, by the end of the construction programme.

The refurbishment design is timeless and rooted in the conservation of the building's heritage to ensure that it remains fit for the future.

Being Heritage listed, our team was faced several challenges to remove existing features and replace them with more sustainable counterparts. With what could be removed, such as specific timbers, our team together with the Heritage Consultant, Chessa Stevens, we carefully examined these materials to understand what could be reused and cleverly reintroduced into the space.

LED lighting was used throughout the project to illuminate the spaces efficiently. Various modern luminaires replace the inefficient and ageing light fittings, which either illuminate the spaces discreetly or be used as feature pendants that match the heritage of the historic spaces.

Respecting the Heritage listing, and adhering to the brief, our Services engineers designed to reuse the existing infrastructure where possible, therefore the project was placed existing fabric as possible. E.g., handrails, judges’ benches.

Similarly, our design included improved maintainability from reconfigured HVAC systems and more appropriately placed switchboards. Existing systems were used where appropriate, and items at the end of their life were replaced with efficient units.  Historic timbers in the Courtrooms were restored and repaired by hand, and new timbers were carefully selected to celebrate the existing ones.

This project was shortlisted in the NZIA Awards 2021, for a Heritage award.