The Treasury’s coffers may presently echo to the ghostly rustle of rolling tumbleweed, but no expense has been spared for Britain’s new Supreme Court. Taxpayers have paid nearly £50,000 for the design of not one but two emblems for the institution, a freedom of information request has revealed.

A formal emblem for the court as a whole cost £26,200, and a second ‘informal’ design for court number 2 a further £23,156 (see Obiter).

The bill for the formal insignia included the cost of its design and development by Yvonne Holton, redrawing and presentation to the Queen by the Garter King of Arms, and development of the symbol in an electronic and adaptable format by Redpath design consultants.

The cost of the emblem in court 2 included the design, manufacture and installation of the glass art piece.

The Ministry of Justice declined to reveal the amount paid to Sir Peter Blake for designing the court’s carpet, which features repeated images of the motif, citing commercial confidentiality. The cost of laying the carpet was included in the £36.7m capital construction fee paid to Kier Group for the overall renovation.

The total set-up costs came to £58.9m. About £1.6m was spent on fitting out the courtrooms and interior in a way that is ‘appropriate to a Grade II listed building and reflects the importance of the institution’. The court opens on 1 October.