ABSTRACT
This chapter focuses on private practice, and the exemplary architect, to concentrate on the work of employed government architects situated at an important nexus of architectural discourse and public sector practice. It outlines the many roles that architects have played in the court building programme. The chapter explores the ways in which design professionals in different settings have been successful in influencing the court building programme, as well as the challenges they have faced in attempting to articulate an independent stance, or alternative voice. A number of the courts constructed as part of the court building programme been well received by critics and served to reinforce the importance of the notion of a democratic courthouse. The chapter also explores the absence of an architectural discourse in the official record. The running of the court building programme gave designers important opportunities to test out ideas and experiment across buildings.
