Apia Courthouse

The Former Apia Courthouse was designed and built in 1902 as a two storey ‘L’ shaped timber building with a wraparound veranda. It opened in 1903 for the German colonial administration in Samoa. In 1914, the place was taken over by the New Zealand occupying forces and used as their administration offices. The ownership of the place was transferred again after Western Samoa regained independence in 1962, and the place became the Samoan government’s own court house and seat of the Prime Minister. The place is recognised to be of significance representing the changing history of Samoa. The Former Apia Courthouse is the object of a research project that aims to provide a conservation and implementation plan under the collaboration of Archifact – architecture & conservation ltd and Unitec to restore and adaptively reuse the court house. The place has been laser scanned to provide a record for which future work can be based upon. The project has received support from the Government of Samoa, New Zealand Government, Federal Republic of Germany and the Trust for the Protection of the Apia Courthouse. A design scheme is currently being developed to turn the Courthouse into a multi-use venue.