The Newcastle Courthouse Development in Newcastle’s CBD was designed to provide the Newcastle Justice System with the largest and most technologically advanced court complex outside the Sydney area.  The seven-storey, 1200sqm, high-security building includes 10 courtrooms and two tribunal rooms and hosts sittings of the Supreme, District and Local Courts. The courthouse is fully accessible to people with disabilities and also includes:-  * Holding cells  * Jury assembly and deliberation areas
* Legal interview rooms on each floor  * Facilities for victims of crime and support groups  * Sheriff’s Office  * State-of-the-art Registry area  * Judicial Chambers  The complex comprises a podium structure with two street frontages with upper levels set back. The site had minimal areas to store materials and key construction risks to be managed included:-  * Pedestrian traffic  * Traffic control  * Craneage use  * Material delivery and handling  Ground stabilisation of the site had been completed under a separate contract prior to contract works commencement, with injection works to fill mine voids and two seams located 24m and 72m below ground level.  Difficulties encountered during construction included:-  * 350 concrete-driven friction piles to provide support for the weight of the building.  * A sink hole/void ground subsidence.  * Adjacent property footings found on site during detailed excavation.  * 16 different types of façade.    * Complexity of design with interiors interacting with various exterior facades, different sizes and finishes to every room, particularly in each courtroom.  * Services and audio-visual systems extremely complex.  The building incorporates solar panels, energy-efficient systems and smart use of natural light to reduce the building’s carbon footprint.  The Newcastle Courthouse has been completed to an extremely high standard of very intricate finishes, which is a testament to the skill of the builder and his tradespeople.