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In the course of our daily reporting, we often uncover unusual projects, places, or connections that don't make the final cut. Instead of keeping it to ourselves, we're pleased to share our Architrivia.
Built in 1972, the Edmonton Law Courts building, designed by Jock Bell of the Edmonton-based firm Bell and McCulloch, exists today as a fine example of Western Canadian Brutalist Architecture. Part of the story of Edmonton's rapid rate of postwar redevelopment and urban renewal, in which large swaths of the original early 20th-century cityscape were demolished to make way for a mix of parking lots, new civic buildings, and urban shopping malls, the Law Courts building was itself a replacement for the 1912-built, Beaux-Arts-styled, sandstone-constructed, Court House, which once occupied the site of the current Edmonton City Centre mall.
Designed as an upside-down step pyramid, the Law Courts building features a great deal of outward symmetry. Its deep-set window banks work to bring light and a sense of openness into the the otherwise oppressive concrete structure.
Similar in many respects to the 1968-built Boston City Hall, the top-heavy cantilevered construction of the Edmonton Law Courts building allowed for an increased amount of interior floor space. The instantly recognizable six-storey structure has been an imposing presence on the downtown streetscape for more than 40 years.
Arguably the finest piece of Brutalist architecture in the city, the Law Courts building was hailed as a breath of fresh air during a period that was marked by major changes to the city centre. Today part of a an urban fabric that is once more experiencing a rapid rate of change, the Law Courts building endures as a symbol of modern Edmonton.
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