Inverness Justice Centre

The key to the successful delivery of this landmark development has been the collaboration with Robertson and a real focus on delivery.”

Craig McConnell | Project Manager | Scottish Courts and Tribunals Service

Completed

Winner

Architectural Excellence, Scottish Property Awards

£1m saved

through value engineering

£9m

community benefits

Scotland’s first purpose-built justice centre

The new Inverness Justice Centre brings court and support services under one roof to provide a more integrated and efficient justice system. The building has been designed to ensure the justice system is accessible, modern and fit-for-purpose.

£1 million was saved through value engineering and £9 million of community benefits have been achieved through community development work.

Inverness Justice Centre was procured through SCAPE SCOTLAND Construction, and constructed by Robertson Northern in partnership with Willmott Dixon.

Combined facilities under one roof

As well as providing modern court and tribunals facilities, a range of justice and support organisations are based in the centre providing integrated facilities for victims, witnesses, litigants and other users. The building includes video link facilities for young and vulnerable people.

Organisations and services supported in the justice centre include:

Citizens Advice Bureau
Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service
Families Outside
Highland Council (Criminal Justice Social Work)
HMCTS (Social Security and Child Support Tribunal, Employment Tribunal)
NHS Highland
Police Scotland
Scottish Women’s Aid
Witness Service/Victim Support Scotland

Offsite construction of concrete facade

With tight timescales and in order to save time on build, precast concrete columns for the intricate façade were created offsite.

Robertson poured more than 5000 cubic metres of concrete to form the complex concrete frame, which has been designed by architects Reiach and Hall.

A modern centre for justice

By incorporating cutting edge technology, the new centre is creating a more efficient legal process for Scottish people.

Specialist facilities for children and young people have been incorporated within the design. The centre represents the changing face of justice by including facilities and technology to remove the need for children to appear in person at court and to support the development of digital case management for summary crime in the future.

In addition to the direct justice benefits, the location of the justice centre means that Inverness Castle – the previous home of the courts - will transfer to the Highland Council when vacant, enabling a long term desire for its use as a major tourism attraction in Inverness.

The project won the Architectural Excellence Award (Public Use) at the Scottish Property Awards 2021.

The new Inverness Justice Centre will give the people of the Highlands access to modern facilities and support all in the same place, which will have a positive impact on local communities."

Michael Matheson
MSP