[1][2] After the judicial facilities in the Civic Centre were deemed to be inadequate, the Lord Chancellor's Department decided to commission a new courthouse: the site chosen formed part of the Ipswich Village Development.

[3] The new building was procured under a Private finance initiative contract in 2001.

[6][7] The design involved a long glazed wall, which enclosed the main hall and entrance, and a stainless steel roof which was cantilevered forward on gable walls supported by narrow columns.

The gable walls, the columns and the full-height recessed wall on the extreme right, which displayed a Royal coat of arms, were all constructed from white Suffolk bricks.

[8] Notable cases heard at the court have included the trial and conviction of Steve Wright, in 2008, for the murder of five sex workers,[9][10] the trial and conviction of Paul Clarke and Lorraine Thorpe, in 2010,[a] for the murder of Rosalyn Hunt and Desmond Thorpe,[12][13] and the trial and conviction of Stephen Anthony Searle, in 2018, for the murder of his wife, Anne Seale.