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Scottish Parliament |
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Linlithgow Civic Trust Annual Lecture 2004
Eric Kinsey and Shona Lines, two civil servants from the Scottish Office attached to the project, made a video and slide presentation about the shape of the Parliament due to be completed in the summer of 2004 and expected to come into operation in the autumn. The project started in 1997, immediately after the referendum. Donald Dewar chaired a committee which examined the 70 architectural applications. The brilliant Barcelona architect Enric Miralles and his wife were chosen in July 1998 as the lead architects in association with an Edinburgh firm. Four sites were the object of a feasibility study and the site of the old Scottish and Newcastle building near Holyrood Palace finally selected. Miralles had come to Edinburgh at the age of 20 and felt a real affinity with the place, and with the Scottish architect Charles Rennie McIntosh. The Catalan architect Antonio Gaudi was his other inspiration. Miralles drew on the Scottish sea and flowers. The building is based on an image of upturned boats, and the public area glass roofs are leaf-shaped. He did not want a building dominating the city, but one which grew out of the landscape and surrounding buildings (grass will reach right to the edge of the walls, and the 17th century Queensberry House will form part of it). He also drew on the local architecture, such as the crow step gables, a motif used to great effect in the window design of the office accommodation. The meeting saw the Miralles sketches at the origin of the design. Queensberry House, a much mishandled building since its construction around 1600, was integrated into the design, made bomb proof, re-roofed in pantiles and re-floored. It will house the officials, and the Donald Dewar Reading Room. Scottish materials were used, granite, oak and sycamore as well as glass and stainless steel. The quality of the materials (and their price!) is striking. The MSPs' office accommodation has vaulted ceilings, cast offsite, weighing 18 tonnes each. The carpet, based on artists' mixing palettes, was designed by Miralles, as were the MSPs' desks in the debating chamber. The Debating Chamber, with its striking roof structure of oak beams and stainless steel nodes, has a public gallery area very near the action. The chamber deliberately avoids the confrontational structure of Westminster for a half-ellipse with individual desks, which may or may not be linked to IT communications. There are four towers with dark granite trigger panels, where committee rooms with suspended ceilings of different size and shapes will have seating for the public. The building makes use of green technology, natural light and heat, and grey water, with natural ventilation and little air-conditioning. Much accommodation is underground: car parks, lockers, bicycle racks, showers, storerooms, mail rooms, kitchens and other support services. The garden lobby lies underneath the leaf-shaped glass roofs. A space has been specifically designated as a 'demonstrations area': protest is allowed in the Scottish Parliament, planned for, and well-organised! The main public hall has three concrete vaults with crosses moulded into them, Miralles' version of the saltire. The glazed corridor to the debating chamber integrates stones lifted from the last Scottish Parliament building and housed by the Dundas family in Arniston House since. After all the controversy, the Scottish Parliament promises to be a stunning building, with bold images and an imaginative use of glass and stainless steel and indigenous materials, a building which combines elements of the vernacular into a wholly modern structure. Around 900 people will be working in it on a daily basis, and the visitor numbers has been estimated at around 7,000 per year. Public transport to it will have to be much improved. Models of the building can be seen in the Parliament Information Centre. Once completed, the Linlithgow Civic Trust will organise a visit as soon as possible. Then we can all make up our minds about one of the most controversial British projects since the Westminster Parliament was rebuilt in the 1820s. Scottish Parliament WebsiteFor more information, visit the official Scottish parliament website: |
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So
what was all the money spent on? Away from the Fraser Inquiry, the
Linlithgow Civic Trust held their annual lecture at the Canal Centre on
the subject on 15th March.