Court of Bordeaux

The contract for the construction of the Court House (Tribunal de Grande Instance) was won by Richard Rogers Partnership in an architectural competition. I consider this information to be crucial, since for example, in Brno, a courthouse building is currently under construction, whose commission was non-transparent and poorly done.
The High Court building is located in the historic center of Bordeaux near the cathedral and city hall. The concept of the design is based on maximum openness and transparency of operation. The judges' offices are glazed and open into the entrance hall. The high level of transparency leads to a pronounced architectural application of the structural framework, which is characteristic of the high-tech movement.
With its more interesting facade, the building opens up towards the cathedral. Its profile indirectly reminisces about its Gothic forms. The main entrance to the building takes place via a dominant staircase that spans a water surface with a sluice. The visitor enters directly into a hall where seven courtrooms designed in the shape of onions rise, clad in wood. The shape of the courtrooms is meant to evoke the form of medieval towers, although I haven't seen similar towers anywhere. The onions rest on a concrete platform supported by eight slanted columns. The shape of the onion is advantageous for the building's energy concept. The high mass takes advantage of the chimney effect, and the ventilation of the courtrooms does not need to rely on forced ventilation. The air exhaust at the highest point of the onion is complemented by a skylight that brings sunlight into the interior. The chosen shape was also used due to its good acoustic properties.
Rogers has proven himself at the court in Bordeaux as an architect who knows how to combine various materials into a pleasing result. For a long time, he was seen as an orthodox advocate of glass, steel, and aluminum. The wood-clad onions in Bordeaux demonstrate his ecological approach to architecture much better. The speculative aesthetic premises of high-tech found a more capable advocate in the 1990s in the form of environmentally friendly building operations.