An international jury chaired by Chief Government Architect of The Netherlands, Liesbeth van der Pol, has selected three winners for the international architectural competition for the new International Criminal Court building in The Hague.

The winning architectural firms are:

* Ingenhoven Architects, Düsseldorf, Germany
* Schmidt Hammer Lassen / Bosch & Fjord, Århus, Denmark
* Wiel Arets Architects & Associates, Maastricht, The Netherlands

The three winning designs were selected by the jury from 19 entries from all over the world on the basis of criteria as incorporation into the urban fabric and surrounding landscape, architecture, safety and sustainability.

The following text is from the winning Ingenhoven Architects:

‘The dunes in The Hague are a unique site for a prestigious international institution like the ICC. In our 5-storey design this wonderful setting is literally „pulled“ further towards the city: the new court building hovers above the extended natural dune-scape in a light and unobstructive manner. The dunes float underneath freely – and straight into the building in the shape of multiple gardens.

The layout of the floor plans is clear, allowing easy orientation and navigation. The three main areas of the prosecutors, the judges and the registrars are clearly separated from each other, still the building acts as an “open house” architecturally. While neither standing in the tradition of a temple like court building, let alone a fabulous “palace of justice” it transform and differentiates the modernist “box” by re-uniting the realm of the people with unspoiled nature in the form of gardens.

Views into nature, views into one of the several omnipresent gardens orientate both every-day users as well as visitors in the building as they are visually exposed to natural conditions such as weather or natural daylight at any time. The architecture of the building is light, careful, elegant and at the same time transparent. It is detached from any specific cultural context. The design is not an overly defensive “security-architecture” but an expression of fairness and a court of law as a place of court hearings. While nevertheless respecting the legitimate needs for privacy it promotes openness towards the public and the media, to make verdicts comprehensible. The building should help the public understand how it functions and not try to hide anything from the public eye.’

Completion: 2014