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City of Justice in Jaén

The new Law Courts building respects a valuable archaeological site, which takes up a great portion of the building site and integrates it into the contemporary city as an open plaza. Clarity and compactness become the determining factors behind the building’s physical location and the linear volume releases an area for the protected archaeological finding. The façade is shaded by a light mesh screen as a light filter, that folds horizontally to cover the archaeological pavilion for visitors. The entrance to the Law Courts from an elevated plaza gives way to a large linear lobby that organizes the complex program with parallel circulations for the courtrooms: an internal one with the working areas and a public one overlooking the archaeological park.