11. District Court of Panevėžys

About

The construction of this building (which was to be used exclusively by a court) was commissioned by the Ministry of Justice of the Soviet Republic of Lithuania, while the Executive Committee of the Soviets of People’s Delegates suggested the location. However, since the given plot of land was very small, the building had to be compact. Some features of the building (height, the rhythm of the windows) were attuned to an earlier project of a different building, that of the Building of the Executive Committee (not completed) which had to be built in the location of the present-day Swedbank building. To widen up the tapering area of the square, the building stands further back from the overall building line of the square.

The main feature of this three-story building with ground floor and a basement is the corner entrance with a stairway; interestingly, it was designed as a response of sorts to the entry of the nearby drug store. Massive volumes, the use of flat and deepened surfaces gives the structure a certain degree of monumentality, while the defined lines of narrow windows and bulky architectural details above them create a dynamic look. The specific purpose of the building called for functional design solutions; therefore, courtrooms, conference rooms, offices, cells for temporary arrest (which had a separate entrance from the courtyard) and a staircase to take convicts to the courtroom had to be established.

Although the building was designed for six judges, today, nineteen of them work in the court. Since the court’s work-load and its extent have grown, the need for new workspaces arose, so the old offices were revamped by either diving or connecting them to the corridor.