Civic, Community and Justice
Civic and justice buildings hold a rare kind of meaning, shaping how people feel, trust, behave and connect with their communities. We bring design, engineering and deep community engagement together to create places that hold up operationally and deliver on the social outcomes they're built for.
Create public institutions that function securely, reflect their communities and provide respectful experiences for the people they serve.
Civic and justice buildings shape people’s experience of public institutions. We bring service requirements, security, cultural context and community insight into the design, helping clients create places that function well and reflect the people they serve.
We design public institutions around the people who use them.
Our Loveable approach uses engagement and behavioural insight to understand what people value about a place, how different groups experience it and what should carry through into the design. At Whangārei Māori Land Court in Aotearoa New Zealand, Te Aranga principles informed an environment that reflects Māori identity, local history and the Court’s role in connecting tangata whenua with ancestry records. The project received recognition at the New Zealand Architecture Awards and Property Industry Awards.
We make change work around essential public services.
We resolve security, privacy, movement and construction staging together so facilities can be renewed without losing sight of the service they provide. At Shepparton Law Courts in Australia, GHD helped develop the staging and decanting strategy that allowed the existing court to remain operational during construction. The new six-court facility was designed to accommodate current and future service demand.
We stay focused on outcomes that matter:
- Public institutions shaped by the people and places they serve
- Safer, more respectful and intuitive experiences for users
- Security, privacy and movement integrated into the design
- Essential services maintained through redevelopment