[2] The red brick building was designed by Australian architect Edward Rumsey, who was a student of George Gilbert Scott.

[1] Two pōhutukawa trees behind the court mark the location of the General Assembly House, which was used by the New Zealand Parliament when Auckland was the capital of the country.

[3] During the building's construction, Anton Teutenberg added relief sculptures, carvings and gargoyles to the building, many of which depict judges and major dignitaries of the 1860s,[3] including Queen Victoria, Prince Albert, George Grey, Edward Gibbon Wakefield and Hōne Heke.

The work was created by Jacob Manu Scott, who intended the piece to represent the guardianship and partnership of tangata whenua in New Zealand.

The sculpture is formed from three Oamaru limestone pillars, which represents the scales of justice and those involved in court processes.