We use cookies to personalize and improve your experience on our site. Visit our Privacy Policy and Cookie Policy to learn more. You can opt out of some cookies by adjusting your browser settings. More information on how to do this can be found in the cookie policy. By using our site, you agree to our use of cookies.

Scottish Parliament

EMBT, RMJM, Edinburgh, 2004

 

Subscribe now to instantly view this image

Subscribe to the Architects’ Journal (AJ) for instant access to the AJ Buildings Library, an online database of nearly 2,000 exemplar buildings in photographs, plans, elevations and details.

Already a subscriber? Sign in

Aerial view of the Scottish Parliament 

Neil Bridge (website)     Download Original

  • Aerial view of the Scottish Parliament    
  • The Canongate building, incorporating a completely new building and offices constructed behind the original facade of 58-60 Canongate.    
  • The main entrance to the Parliament building, with a wooden overhanging canopy    
  • One of three water features, in front of the oak and concrete façade of the main entrance. The ponds were designed to reflect the lochans in Holyrood Park and to mark the entrance to the building.    
  • EMBT and RMJM were also the landscape architects    
  • Stirling Prize judges inspect the building    
  • The central debating chamber, finished in oak, sycamore and glass    
  • The Stirling Prize Judges inspect the foyer of the building    
  • Upper basement plan    
  • Ground floor plan    
  • First floor plan    
  • Fifth floor plan    
  • Section through Debating Chamber    
  • Canongate elevation    
  • Detail of stone cladding facade system    
  • Detail of facade and bay system    

Complex incorporating a debating chamber building, four tower buildings containing committee rooms, staff offices, the MSP building and the Canongate buildings

Drawing inspiration from the surrounding landscape, the flower paintings by Charles Rennie Mackintosh and the upturned boats on the seashore, Enric Miralles developed a design that he described as a building 'growing out of the land'.

Structures covered with grass run right up to the edge of the Debating Chamber building with garden paths and a series of ponds that link the buildings to the landscape around the four acre site.

The design for the Parliament was required to reflect the 'principle of open government', alongside a high level of security measures designed to counter terrorist threats and prevent criminal intrusions, as well as controlling access to non-public areas of the building.

The building is constructed from a mixture of steel, oak, and granite.

Data

  • Begun: Jul 1999
  • Completed: 2004
  • Floor area: 29,321m2
  • Sector: Civic
  • Total cost: £250M
  • Tender date: 1998
  • Address: The Scottish Parliament, Edinburgh, EH99 1SP, United Kingdom

Professional Team

AJBL Sponsor

SAS International

SAS International is a British manufacturer of interior products

Find out more