Courthouse Extension
Wording by Hamonic+Masson & Associés
Architecture must have meaning. It must
speak, tell stories and make us a question:
a site, a program, a group of people and
a story. It is a matter of specificity since
architecture is the art of conjunction. Our
parcel is drawn between the river and the
city. The courthouse of Douai, undefined,
seeks an identity. The challenge is to give
sense and coherence to the project.
The strategic position of the new parcel
allowed us to develop a flagship project
with a well-defined character, an urban
reference to the stakes of public edifices.
The different stakes of the program are
conditioned by the existing building. At first,
we must objectively analyze and define the
real architectural potential. The land that we
were granted has distinguished qualities. Its
topography and geographical location have
led to the main lines of the project.
When a site generates a certain emotion,
the relevance of the intervention becomes
32 - www.refurbandrestore.co.uk
even more important. Practicing architecture
is enhancing and enriching a departing
situation. Respecting is not disappearing, it’s
revealing, transcribing again and magnifying
the initial emotion. The truth of the project
is in the contemplation and the restitution of
its environment.
It finds it’s strength and it’s richness by what
it reveals. The stalks of the project are then
clearly expressed: giving a new identity and
finding an architectural unit and coherence,
starting from the heritage of 1714 and an
extension of 1978; simplicity, readability of
the building and the clear functioning of its
departments; highlighting the exceptional
character of the Scarpe.
The declivity allows work on the notion
of the ground. From the rue of Cloris, the
building offers a large pierced horizontal
visual that links it to the street, the hallway,
the public lobby, and the Scarpe. Oriented
south, the public lobby becomes a belvedere
and offers a great view of the Scarpe until
touching the water.