Parliamentary News Release
060/2003
Friday 3 October 2003
“HOLYROOD - ONE OF THE MOST PHYSICALLY ACCESSIBLE PARLIAMENTS IN THE WORLD” SAYS REID
Holyrood will be one of the most physically accessible parliaments in the world, says Scottish Parliament Presiding Officer George Reid.
Speaking at the end of the Parliament’s Disability Week, he said:
“Physical accessibility has been integral to the Holyrood design from the very outset. Every effort has been made to ensure that disabled people will be able to access and use Scotland’s Parliament building with ease and independence.
“Disability issues are a matter of human rights and barriers to the democratic process are inexcusable. Our access consultants, who have worked closely with our design team, are confident that Holyrood will be one of the most physically accessible Parliaments in the world.”
Margaret Hickish of Buro Happold, the disability access consultants employed to advise on the design of the Holyrood buildings, said:
“The focus of 2003 - Europe’s Year for Disabled People, has been on design for all, and the new Parliament building has indeed been designed from the ground up, to ensure access for all to Scotland’s democracy. The European Union has in fact commented that it will be ‘the most accessible building in Europe.’”
Background Notes
All areas of the new building will be accessible to disabled people. Every element within the new Parliament building has been considered from an access perspective, including the specifications for furniture, the height of surfaces in catering areas and the design of security screening equipment.
Features in the new Parliament building, which is expected to be completed by July 2004, include:
- a guarantee that carpets will have a short, dense pile
to assist wheelchair users,
- the provision of “mega-loos” with
space for an assistant and a changing bench,
- infra-red and induction loop sound enhancement systems
available for use in all the working areas of the Parliament,
- six accessible parking spaces for disabled people in the
Parliament’s secure car parking area for use by staff and
members, as well as six similar parking bays on Horse Wynd for
use by visitors
to the Parliament, and
- lifts from the visitors’ gallery to ensure that disabled visitors can be evacuated safely and quickly should the need arise.
Questions and Answers on access to Holyrood
Q - What expert advice was sought for planning for people with disabilities at the Holyrood building?
A – An independent company of access audit consultants, Buro Happold Ltd, was appointed to advise the Design Team on all matters concerning people with disabilities. Buro Happold was an integral part of the Design Team, working closely with the architects to create the fully accessible facility required by the Building User Brief.
Q – What consultation took place with disabled people and disability organisations?
A – A Parliament Building Consultation Group was set up to inform and support Buro Happold on all aspects of accessibility. Membership of the Group included people from a range of voluntary sector organisations covering physical, sensory and learning disabilities, as well as the needs of older people.
Equally, it was important for us to have a range of national groups included in the process, such as Disability Scotland, Age Concern Scotland, ENABLE and Spinal Injuries Scotland, but we also wanted a strong local presence. We asked all local access groups to nominate members to participate. On the basis of those responses we included:
- Disability Alliance Scottish Highlands
- Clackmannan Community Volunteers, Stirling and Falkirk Access Panels
- South Ayrshire Access Panel
- Aberdeen Disability Advisory Group
- West Lothian Access Committee
- Hamilton/East Kilbride Forum on Disability
- Edinburgh Access Panel
- Perth & Kinross Access Panel.
Q- Have you considered the safety of disabled people who will use the parking bays but have to cross a busy road to get to the Parliament?
A – A puffin crossing will be installed to improve safety and reduce delays in this area. The crossing will have detectors that can tell when people are waiting to cross. The detectors also ‘watch’ the crossing and control the light signals so that you have enough time to cross in safety.
Q – What about facilities within the Parliament Building itself?
A – As well as a significant number of accessible toilets throughout the campus for use by MSPs, staff and members of the public there will be two large accessible toilet facilities “mega loos” which will be located in the public and private areas. There will be space for an assistant and a full-length changing bench in each of the large toilet facilities. This provision will enable all wheelchair users to use a toilet regardless of the size of wheelchair or of their personal mobility, dexterity or strength.
Buro Happold has also provided advice to the client and the Design Team on many other issues such as the type of ATM equipment, crèche equipment, tea points, catering areas, furniture specifications, proximity readers and security screening equipment to ensure that the new Parliament building is as accessible as possible.
Q – Carpets can often cause problems for wheelchair users. Has the Design Team given this issue any thought?
A – The carpets being considered for the various areas of
the Parliament Building will have a shorter and denser pile than
traditional Axminster or Wilton’s and will be adhered directly
to the floor thus eliminating the possibility of rucking. This is
intended to make access to the different parts of the building much
easier for wheelchair users.
Q – How many spaces will there be for disabled visitors in
the Public viewing gallery?
A – Within the gallery there will be permanent space provided for six wheelchair users plus one space in the VIP gallery and one space in the press gallery. That number can be increased (subject to health, safety and fire evacuation regulations) for special occasions, through planned flexibility, by the removal of seats to create additional space for up to a further seven wheelchair users.
Other disabled members of the public such as the visually impaired, hard of hearing and those with cognitive or mobility impairments will also be able to access many, if not all, of the seats in the public gallery.
Q – How many of the MSPs seats in the chamber will be fully accessible to wheelchair users?
A – Sixty-one out of 130 seats (there are 129 MSPs) will have full wheelchair access. This will ensure that a wheelchair user could easily take their place as a backbench Member, a Minister, as First Minister or the Presiding Officer.
For further information the media contact is:
Eric MacLeod: 0131 348 5389
email: eric.macleod@scottish.parliament.uk
Typetalk calls are welcome on 018001
For public information enquiries, contact: 0131 34 85000
For general enquiries, contact: 0845 278 1999 (local
call rate)
email: sp.info@scottish.parliament.uk
Visit our website at: www.scottish.parliament.uk