Editing Middlesex Guildhall (section)

==Controversy over conversion==
[[File:Supreme Court of the United Kingdom - Library - 1.jpg|thumb|left|upright=1.4|Justices' library in the Supreme Court building]]
After the government chose the Middlesex Guildhall as home for the new Supreme Court, it was realised that a great deal of work was required to renovate the building and adapt it to the new use. Renovation plans were developed by architects Feilden+Mawson LLP, supported by Foster & Partners.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.dca.gov.uk/supreme/index.htm |publisher=Department for Constitutional Affairs |title=Constitutional Reform |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101008003815/http://www.dca.gov.uk/supreme/index.htm |access-date=19 October 2020 |archive-date=8 October 2010}}</ref>

Conservation groups opposed the planned conversion which involved the destruction of the original interiors of an important historic building.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.savebritainsheritage.org/news/The-Supreme-Court-and-the-Middlesex-Guildhall-the-real-story|title=The Supreme Court and the Middlesex Guildhall - the real story|date=14 October 2009|website=SAVE Britain's Heritage}}</ref> The Middlesex Guildhall is a Grade II* [[listed building]], and the statement of importance by [[English Heritage]] classed the three main Court interiors as "unsurpassed by any other courtroom of the period in terms of the quality and completeness of their fittings" on 26 August 2004. The conversion works eventually involved the loss of many of the original fixtures and fittings. [[Save Britain's Heritage]] unsuccessfully contested the conversion.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.savebritainsheritage.org/campaigns/item/99/The-Supreme-Court-and-the-Middlesex-Guildhall-the-real-story |title=The Supreme Court and the Middlesex Guildhall – the real story |publisher=Save Britain's Heritage |access-date=27 May 2018}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/6143744.stm |date=7 March 2007 |title=Grand designs |publisher=BBC |access-date=19 August 2019}}</ref>

As part of the refurbishment, new carpets designed by [[Peter Blake (artist)|Sir Peter Blake]], featuring a reinterpretation of the Supreme Court's official badge, were laid in the building.<ref>{{cite web |title=In pictures: UK Supreme Court |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/in_pictures/8151625.stm |website=[[BBC News]] |access-date=7 April 2025 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090718131005/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/in_pictures/8151625.stm |archive-date=18 July 2009 |date=15 July 2009}}</ref>