Manchester Civil Justice Centre

Civil Justice Centre
Manchester Civil Justice Centre, Spinningfields
Alternative names	MCJC
General information
Status	Complete
Type	High-rise Courts
Architectural style	Futurist / Expressionist
Location	Spinningfields, Manchester, England
Completed	2007
Cost	£113 million
Height
Roof	80 m (260 ft)
Technical details
Floor count	17
Floor area	35,160 m2 (378,500 sq ft)
Design and construction
Architect	Denton Corker Marshall
Developer	Allied London
Structural engineer	Mott MacDonald
Main contractor	Bovis Lend Lease

Manchester Civil Justice Centre is a governmental building in Manchester, England. Completed in 2007, it houses Manchester's county court and the Manchester District Registry of the High Court, the city's family proceedings court, the district probate registry, and the regional and area offices of the Court Service.

The Civil Justice Centre was the first major court complex built in Britain since George Edmund Street's Royal Courts of Justice in London completed in 1882. Its distinctive architecture has been nicknamed the "filing cabinet" because of its cantilever floors at the end of the building. The design takes inspiration from Expressionist architecture but also the artistic Futurist movement of the 1920s which promotes dynamic lines and a sense of fluid movement.

Commissioned by the former Department for Constitutional Affairs (now the Ministry of Justice), the building was funded as a Public–private partnership and is the centrepiece of the Spinningfields development. The building opened to widespread acclaim for its expressionist dynamism, environmental credentials and high-quality design. It was nominated for RIBA's Stirling Prize in 2007 and named one of the "Best British buildings of the 21st century" by Blueprint magazine in 2011.

The Justice Centre is in Spinningfields, an area west of the city centre which has been regenerated since the 1996 Manchester bombing. The building was required to provide new court space for Greater Manchester. An international competition managed by RIBA Competitions to design a landmark building to complement the development was launched in 2000. The brief required a minimum floor-plate of 300,000 square feet and flexibility as a potential office building. The competition garnered 100 applicants which was whittled down to 49 long-list proposals.