page_title: Old High Court Building, Dhaka
section_title: Architectural significance
hierarchical_section_title: Old High Court Building, Dhaka / Architectural significance
caption_attribution_description: Stair case in the Old High Court building , High Court Street, Dhaka, Bangladesh (opposite the Curzon Hall)
context_page_description: The Old High Court Building in Dhaka is situated at High Court Street, opposite the picturesque Curzon Hall. It was constructed in the beginning of the 20th century in Renaissance architectural style. It was built as the house of the governor of East Bengal and Assam. After the construction of the building, the advisor of the Indian government said that it was not suitable for a governor's residence. It was then used as a general office and was given to Intermediate College. The High Court Building was built after the division of India in 1947.
context_section_description: This is the finest example in Dhaka of the European Renaissance style with few or no Mughal features. It has a prominent central porch under a triangular pediment which is supported on Corinthian columns. The building is surmounted by a graceful dome which rests on a ring of columns.  On entering the building through this porch there are two wide verandahs on either side of the 28 foot square entrance hall, which is paved with white marble. Beyond is a broad staircase, also flagged with white marble which leads to the upper storey. On the west of the entrance hall are a couple of drawing rooms of similar dimensions, measuring 25 by 34 feet, and these rooms are terminated by a north-south oriented verandah and a long corridor around a large rectangular inner courtyard. On the east, there is a ball room which measures 60 by 55’-0” and is fronted by a verandah on the south. The inner central courtyard is overlooked on both the east and west wings by long covered corridors and a circular projection in the centre of each wing, whilst the two-storeyed northern wing facing south, accommodates four large bedrooms measuring 28’-0” x 17”-8” and 25’-0” x 16”-0” with dressing rooms and bathrooms between them. These also are flanked by two 9’-8” wide verandahs on both the front and back. A staircase through the middle of the north wing leads to the upper storey. There are two spiral staircases at the corners of the quadrilateral blocks. The entire flooring on the ground floor is of white marble except for ballroom which is of polished teak timber planks. The edifice presents a graceful example of the European Renaissance style as adapted to suit this country.
caption: Interior staircase
exif: {"Image ImageDescription": "", "Image Make": "SONY", "Image Model": "DSC-T2", "Image Orientation": "Horizontal (normal)", "Image XResolution": "72", "Image YResolution": "72", "Image ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Image DateTime": "2011:04:19 04:33:09", "Image YCbCrPositioning": "Co-sited", "Image ExifOffset": "256", "Image PrintIM": "[80, 114, 105, 110, 116, 73, 77, 0, 48, 51, 48, 48, 0, 0, 2, 0, 2, 0, 1, 0, 0, 0, 1, 1, 1, 0, 0, 0]", "Thumbnail Compression": "JPEG (old-style)", "Thumbnail Make": "SONY", "Thumbnail Model": "DSC-T2", "Thumbnail Orientation": "Horizontal (normal)", "Thumbnail XResolution": "72", "Thumbnail YResolution": "72", "Thumbnail ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Thumbnail DateTime": "2011:04:19 04:33:09", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormat": "9376", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormatLength": "8783", "EXIF ExposureTime": "1/40", "EXIF FNumber": "7/2", "EXIF ExposureProgram": "Program Normal", "EXIF ISOSpeedRatings": "250", "EXIF ExifVersion": "0221", "EXIF DateTimeOriginal": "2011:04:19 04:33:09", "EXIF DateTimeDigitized": "2011:04:19 04:33:09", "EXIF ComponentsConfiguration": "YCbCr", "EXIF CompressedBitsPerPixel": "3", "EXIF ExposureBiasValue": "0", "EXIF MaxApertureValue": "29/8", "EXIF MeteringMode": "Pattern", "EXIF LightSource": "Unknown", "EXIF Flash": "Flash fired, compulsory flash mode, return light not detected", "EXIF FocalLength": "633/100", "EXIF FlashPixVersion": "0100", "EXIF ColorSpace": "sRGB", "EXIF ExifImageWidth": "3264", "EXIF ExifImageLength": "2448", "Interoperability InteroperabilityIndex": "R98", "Interoperability InteroperabilityVersion": "[48, 49, 48, 48]", "EXIF InteroperabilityOffset": "9170", "EXIF FileSource": "Digital Camera", "EXIF SceneType": "Directly Photographed", "EXIF CustomRendered": "Normal", "EXIF ExposureMode": "Auto Exposure", "EXIF WhiteBalance": "Auto", "EXIF SceneCaptureType": "Standard", "EXIF Contrast": "Normal", "EXIF Saturation": "Normal", "EXIF Sharpness": "Normal"}