Jacobs Babtie commenced the design of Exeter Crown and County Courts in 2000 and were appointed as preferred bidder in 2001. We provided a full multi-disciplinary service from site selection and planning assessment through to interior design and commissioning of artwork. The brownfield site was chosen because of its proximity to the City Centre and the main legal and business quarter of Exeter in Southernhay. The design has developed in response to the constraints imposed by the steeply sloping and constrained urban site, whilst also satisfying the demands of an exacting accommodation brief. The project is approximately 12,000m2 and draws together a number of facilities previously located in separate buildings around the City including Probate, Law Society, Court District Managers, and Police agencies. The core facilities comprise 4 new Crown and County Courts and 5 new Civil Courts together with courts service offices and custody accommodation. The project has a number of stakeholders including the Courts Service, City Planners, Staff, Judiciary, Employees, Local Residents, Law Society, Prison Service and CABE. Fundamental to the projects success has been our ability to satisfy the requirements of this diverse group whilst maintaining the design quality and strong concept that initiated the designs. The project commenced on site in November 2002 and is due for completion in November 2004.----- ' Design issues , a bone of contention on some early PFI deals, were not a problem in relation to the Exeter project. Supported by Exeter City Council and CABE, the project manifests an exciting design that responds to local architecture traditions while expressing the new build's social significance ' (C. Leslie MP, Under Secretary of State).-----Extracts from the Design Quality Assessment undertaken by Ian Richie (CABE); - ' This is a good design that creates some interesting internal spaces '-----' Internally the plan is laid out in an elegant manner. Users needs are very well met in an imaginative internal volume '-----' the principal spaces have a sense of gravitas appropriate for an important Civic building '-----' the various user circulation routes are well handled. Separation between Civil and Criminal courts is sensitively managed '-----' the central public area provides good quality three dimensional space with potentially excellent natural light '