Government has applied for a fifth storey addition to the new Bermuda Magistrates' Court and Hamilton Police Station.

If approved, the extra floor will house offices at the complex, which is to be named after Dame Lois Browne Evans.

The Planning application aims to expand the total floor space of the building from 110,863 sq ft to 127,473 sq ft, creating seven levels.

Planning permission for the complex was originally approved in principle in February 2001, and building permits issued in September of last year.

Construction finally began in December, with completion on the project scheduled for 2010.

The new court and Police complex, at the corner of Church Street, Court Street and Victoria Street, has an estimated cost of $75 million.

It features four courtrooms on the second floor, plus a Family Court on the third.

The lobby floor is to depict a stone compass, overset by a map of the Island in stainless steel.

Architects Carruthers Shaw and Partners Ltd of Toronto, Canada, have already allocated offices to the left of the ground, second, third and fourth floors, but the proposed fifth storey will be designated purely as open plan offices.