Nevada Buff brick for Criminal Justice Centre

Nevada Buff brick for Criminal Justice Centre

Wienerberger has provided its Nevada Buff brick for the Criminal Justice Centre in Northampton. The Buff brick adds authority to new flexible working space and short term penal facility.

Now complete, the project has balanced these criteria into a versatile yet commanding building. To ensure that the building was welcoming for staff, whilst remaining suitable for confining those subject to the legal process, the project had to balance the internal availability of natural light with an interesting exterior that didn’t detract from the building’s austere purpose.

To achieve this equilibrium, the centre’s exterior makes efficient use of colour and scale, as opposed to the intricate textural details seen in modern domestic architecture. To secure this requirement, the architects selected Wienerberger’s Nevada Buff brick, which is monochromatic in tone yet almost peach in colour. The use of multistory narrow strips of external brickwork to frame large, dark windows emphasises the police’s safeguarding of society.

The office areas overlook the roof of the ground floor custody facilities, which boasts interesting geometric patterns through the design of roof-lights that allow light into the whole building. Furthermore, this allowed the architect to manifest a more imposing exterior when seen from street level. With all the prerequisite demands considered, the final project successfully married the dichotomy of the brief, and whilst the building retains it’s authoritative purpose, it is also a welcoming and bright place to work.

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