
This project for the new CAEN Courthouse is part of the redevelopment of the port peninsula. It brings together and reunites the Caenese judicial authorities and thus carries a strong message on the new image of justice.
The equipment is part of the urban redevelopment facing the historic city centre bordering the northern banks of the canal and in direct dialogue with the Abbaye aux Dames.
Understanding the constraints of the site and the program guided the design of a simple and rational building. The Law Courts thus appear as a calm monolith evoking the stability and authority of the institution.
The Palace is thus unambiguous on the site. Its emblematic and uniform shape stands out straight away.
Its white glass coat, deliberately erasing the inevitable repetition of the windows, gives the volume a chosen, almost secret silence.
The division of the project into three functional layers is perceived through the elementary morphology of the building:
The base, constituting the first stratum, is the secure flow stage. It forms a kind of white concrete stele on which the Court House rests.
The body, (sekos...), constituting the second stratum, is the stage of public flows. The courtrooms and the lost steps room are located there. This floor overlooks the square.
The attic, the third layer, overhanging the square, welcomes user flows.