Court in Gelsenkirchen by harris + kurrle

The Ruhr area is among the most industrial regions in Germany. The local architecture is inseparably linked with the rough facade of clinker bricks, which have best withstood polluted air. Gelsenkirchen was one of the most important European centers for coal mining in the last century. Today, there are no active mines in the city, and industrial operations are much cleaner, but the characteristic rough masonry of sintered blocks in local architecture persists, as evidenced by the recently completed courthouse building by the Stuttgart duo Joel Harris and Volker Kurrle. The winning project from 2010 consists of three compact blocks with a total area of 14,000 m². In addition to its judicial function, it includes a social and labor office for the federal state of North Rhine-Westphalia. The entrance area with a magnificent atrium also serves as a public square. The resulting division of rooms in the building is not according to the residing institutions but rather by individual functions. Thus, all public functions such as courtrooms, restaurants, a library, or land office are placed at the front, while at the opposite end, with restricted access, is all administration. All these functions are unified by one material, which is the outer facade of clinker bricks.

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