Abbotsford Law Courts

The new Abbotsford Law Courts will serve the needs of one of the province’s fastest growing regions.

Located in Abbotsford’s civic precinct, the 14-courtroom facility includes three Supreme Court courtrooms, eight Provincial Court courtrooms and three judicial conference rooms.

The facility plans also incorporate ancillary programs that support the provision of justice, including:

• Justice Access Centre
• Sheriff Services
• Crown Counsel
• Community Corrections
• Public Services

Design features

The 180,000-square-foot facility rises four storeys above ground, with one below-grade level, and also includes a three-level cast-in-place parkade structure to service users of the law courts facility as well as members of the public visiting the surrounding precinct.

The facility includes state-of-the-art technology systems to support the delivery of justice services now and well into the future, and utilizes best-practice building design to respond to the evolving approach to justice services.

Leveraging Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design principles, both passive and active security features were used to facilitate an accessible and safe environment for all staff and users.

The new law courts facility was designed to maximize environmental sustainability and ultimately achieve LEED® Gold Certification upon completion. Passive design strategies, including building orientation and envelope design have been incorporated in order to establish a highly energy efficient facility that aligns with the sustainability initiatives of the Province of B.C.

Innovations

The 28-month period from Financial Close to the mandated construction completion deadline was considered aggressive given the scope of the project.

Plenary and PCL worked together during the bid phase to establish an efficient schedule and ultimately proposed to the client that design development activities take place immediately following notification of preferred proponent.

This unique ‘at-risk’ approach demonstrated the commitment of Plenary PCL Justice to drive towards a successful project outcome even before any agreement was signed with the Province.

Local economic impacts

This project was estimated to provide opportunities for more than 1,000 local workers and also provided opportunities for registered apprentices to be on site, helping to develop the next generation of skilled trade workers in the province.