Courthouse of Béziers

Ateliers 2/3/4/ designed a monumental concrete courthouse in Béziers, France, featuring voids that open between the rocks to form light wells and crevices, terraces and patios.

The court plays on the duality between the urban monumentality of a judicial institution and the serenity necessary to handle delicate cases that affect people’s lives.

Sources of light, voids open between the rocks to form light wells and crevices, terraces and patios. This compact device provides a temperate climate within, an indoor environment marked by transparency and the play of light. The atmosphere modulates with the seasons in accordance with the need for protection from the sun or for it to enter the space.

The transparency of the lobbies gives glimpses to the central patio shadow garden planted with tree ferns, that distributes and links the public waiting areas and courtrooms.

Monochrome, through its irregularities, bubbles, scratches and bumps, the sandblasted and hammered concrete gives strength and thickness to a rustic material. A symbol of justice, the parvis is here the antechamber, the introduction, the sheltered outside institution; open to urban life it soothes, protects and welcomes.