Scottish Parliament Building

Not to be confused with Parliament House, Edinburgh.

Scottish Parliament Building
Scottish Gaelic: Pàrlamaid na h-Alba;[1]
Scots: Scots Pairlament Biggin
Aerial view of the Scottish Parliament Building
Map
Alternative namesHolyrood
General information
TypeSeat of the national parliament of Scotland
Architectural stylePost-modern
AddressHolyrood, Edinburgh, EH99 1SP
CountryScotland
Coordinates55°57′8″N 3°10′29″W / 55.95222°N 3.17472°W / 55.95222; -3.17472
Current tenantsThe Scottish Government and Members of the Scottish Parliament
Construction startedJune 1999
Inaugurated9 October 2004
Cost£414 million[2]
Design and construction
Architect(s)Enric Miralles, Benedetta Tagliabue
Architecture firmEMBT, RMJM (Scotland) Ltd
Structural engineerOve Arup & Partners
Main contractorBovis Lend Lease
Awards and prizes2005 Stirling Prize
Website
www.parliament.scot/index.aspx

The Scottish Parliament Building (Scottish Gaelic: Pàrlamaid na h-Alba;[3] Scots: Scots Pairlament Biggin) is the home of the Scottish Parliament at Holyrood, within the UNESCO World Heritage Site in central Edinburgh.[4] Construction of the building commenced in June 1999 and the Members of the Scottish Parliament (MSPs) held their first debate in the new building on 7 September 2004. The formal opening by Queen Elizabeth II took place on 9 October 2004.[5] Enric Miralles, the Catalan architect who designed the building, died before its completion.[6]

From 1999 until the opening of the new building in 2004, committee rooms and the debating chamber of the Scottish Parliament were housed in the General Assembly Hall of the Church of Scotland located on The Mound in Edinburgh. Office and administrative accommodation in support of the Parliament were provided in buildings leased from the City of Edinburgh Council.[7] The new Scottish Parliament Building brought together these different elements into one purpose-built parliamentary complex, housing 129 MSPs and more than 1,000 staff and civil servants.[8]

From the outset, the building and its construction have been controversial.[9] The choices of location, architect, design and construction company were all criticised by politicians, the media and the Scottish public. Scheduled to open in 2001,[10] it did so in 2004, more than three years late with an estimated final cost of £414 million, many times higher than initial estimates of between £10m and £40m. A major public inquiry into the handling of the construction, chaired by the former Lord Advocate, Lord Fraser of Carmyllie, was established in 2003.[10] The inquiry concluded in September 2004, and criticised the management of the whole project from the realisation of cost increases, down to the way in which major design changes were implemented.[11] Despite these criticisms and a mixed public reaction, the building was welcomed by architectural academics and critics. The building aimed to achieve a poetic union between the Scottish landscape, its people, its culture and the city of Edinburgh. The Parliament Building won numerous awards including the 2005 Stirling Prize and has been described by landscape architect Charles Jencks as "a tour de force of arts and crafts and quality without parallel in the last 100 years of British architecture".[12][13]

  1. ^ "Dachaigh : Pàrlamaid na h-Alba". Scottish Parliament. Archived from the original on 17 May 2016. Retrieved 17 June 2016.
  2. ^ Johnson, Simon (14 January 2010). "Scottish Parliament costs taxpayers £72 million per year". The Daily Telegraph. Archived from the original on 25 September 2015. Retrieved 17 September 2015.
  3. ^ "Dachaigh : Pàrlamaid na h-Alba". Scottish Parliament. Archived from the original on 17 May 2016. Retrieved 17 June 2016.
  4. ^ "The New Scottish Parliament at Holyrood" (PDF). Audit Scotland, Sep 2000. Archived from the original (PDF) on 6 December 2006. Retrieved 10 December 2006.
  5. ^ "Opening of Holyrood". Scottish Parliament. Archived from the original on 4 May 2006. Retrieved 29 October 2006.
  6. ^ "Scots Parliament architect dies". BBC Scotland News. BBC. 3 July 2000. Archived from the original on 14 February 2008. Retrieved 29 October 2006.
  7. ^ "Scotland's Parliament to start life in General Assembly Hall" (Press release). Scottish Office. 20 March 1998. Archived from the original on 8 January 2016. Retrieved 17 June 2016.
  8. ^ Catherine Slessor (November 2004). "Scotland the brave: operatic in both conception and execution, Scotland's long awaited new parliament will help a fledgling institution to mature and evolve". Architecture Review. Archived from the original on 5 June 2013. Retrieved 4 January 2007.
  9. ^ "Speech by HM The Queen on the opening of the New Scottish Parliament building". Certainly this new parliament building has had a difficult and controversial birth. Royal.gov.uk. 9 October 2004. Archived from the original on 11 January 2014. Retrieved 11 January 2014.
  10. ^ a b Isobel White; Iqwinder Sidhu. "House of Commons Research Paper - Building the Scottish Parliament, The Holyrood Project" (PDF). House of Commons Library, 12 January 2005. Retrieved 11 January 2014.
  11. ^ Peter Fraser (15 September 2004). "Speech of Lord Fraser on the Publication of the Holyrood Inquiry Report" (PDF). Holyrood Inquiry. Retrieved 15 December 2006.
  12. ^ Cite error: The named reference sunday herald was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  13. ^ Charles Jencks (January 2005). "Identity parade: Miralles and the Scottish parliament: On the architectural territories of the EMBT/RMJM parliament building". Architecture Today. pp. 32–44. Archived from the original on 9 October 2007. Retrieved 7 January 2007.