Civil Justice Centre, Manchester

With a floor area of 34,000 m² and providing 47 courtrooms, it is the biggest court building to be built in the UK since the Royal Courts of Justice in London.

The building, designed by architect Denton Corker Marshall, has won a number of awards including the 'Green Major Project of the Year' at the Green Construction Awards, and three categories of the Roses Design Awards.

The building was designed to be a low energy icon, and to achieve a "very good" BREEAM rating. One key requirement was for natural ventilation. The mechanical services design includes innovative displacement and mixed mode ventilation systems. The narrow floor plate facilitates a cross flow ventilation scheme designed to maximise free cooling potential and comfort in mid-season. A complex web of ductwork allows air to be taken in at the sides of the atrium through wind scoops facing the direction of the prevailing wind and to circulate this through the building.

To regulate the inlet air, Colt provided a large number of electrically operated Coltlite dampers with insulated blades set behind louvre panels in the facade. In addition Condor sliding natural ventilators were installed above the atrium for extract. All the Colt system elements are linked together by a Colt OPV control system.