For both Jo Kruger (1914-1983) and Rob Hootsmans (1962) the architecture of the Courthouse in Zwolle had been a long time in the making. Kruger started in 1963 with his project for a combined district and subdistrict court which took 14 years to be completed. In 2004, while still working for the Government Building Agency, Hootsmans began exploring how Kruger's building could be extended. He finished his extension in 2013, and completed the renovation of Kruger's building in 2016. Even if the architecture of Jo Kruger is very different from Rob Hootsmans, and their coming together on the site of the Courthouse in Zwolle accidental, it is somehow a meeting of kindred spirits.