With its carefully scaled massing and richly patterned cladding of spandrel and clear glass, the Durham Region Courthouse makes a significant contribution to the civic architecture of the emerging urban framework of downtown Oshawa. This award-winning building’s bold, modern vocabulary emphasizes transparency and openness, both for users and passers-by. A large outdoor public space, Courthouse Square, acts as the forecourt to the building entrance and creates opportunities for civic engagement. Providing badly needed space for the province´s judicial system, this six-storey structure houses 33 courtrooms, associated support space, and facilities for holding prisoners. For planning efficiency, high-use functions are located at or near ground level.

WZMH’s design includes innovations in energy performance that will result in energy savings of 42%, in comparison with similarly-scaled buildings completed within the last ten years. The Durham Region Courthouse was the first government building in Ontario to achieve LEED Gold, Certified by the Canada Green Building Council (CaGBC).