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‘The first thing visitors do on entering the building is to walk beneath the great, round council chamber...so the democratic process is defined, captured and visible from all sides’


© Paul Zanre


© David Barbour


and VAT). In the Council’s case, for instance, their share of the cost was raised by divesting existing properties and identifying capital investment savings and reduced lifecycle costs associat- ed with occupation of a new and efficient single building. “The model effectively provided us with a new building for


very little,” says David Forsyth, head of property services for West Lothian Council. The 20,000m2


Civic Centre was completed last year on a


former pitch and putt golf course on the River Almond, com- prising publicly accessible facilities such as the debating chamber; sheriff and justice of the peace courts and facilities for the high court; the police divisional HQ and Livingston police station; a custody suite with 32 cells and the family pro- tection unit. The building also houses the regional procurator fiscal (public prosecutor) and children’s reporter (child protec- tion services) as well as the district registrar (they deal with births, deaths and marriages). Support staff for all the above are housed within the Civic Centre. Placing all these services within the same building could


have confused its many visitors and so architect, BDP’s Scottish team, worked hard to clarify the spaces and circula- tion. From the exterior of the building, the civic rooms, com- prising courts and the council chamber, are identified by their weathered brass cladding, and the council chamber is suspend- ed within the shared Civic Space.


Indeed, the first thing visitors do on entering the building is


to walk beneath the great, round council chamber (this is cap- tured within a large over-sailing orthogonal roof plane, which shelters the entrance and the war memorial) so the democratic process is defined, captured and visible from all sides. After passing beneath the chamber, visitors come into the


central, double-height atrium of the building – the civic space with the obligatory cafe - lit by clerestory windows (casting intriguing bars of light onto the walls when the sun shines) and face a desk staffed by receptionists trained to cope with a wide variety of needs that the general public might have, and to direct them to further services. Meeting rooms line the space so that staff from each of the partners in the Centre can meet members of the public in a shared space. The reception set up has been designed to help people who may have complex needs requiring the input of several different public agencies in a single visit. Importantly, all services are accessible from the civic space, so all are granted equal importance under the hier- archy of space. Also leading off the civic reception space are offices,


arranged as two fingers on either side of an atrium “street,” and shared between the partners including the council, the police, the courts service, the procurators fiscal and the children’s reporter. This street is surmounted by huge, south-tilted lanterns, visible from outside and allowing light to enter


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