Two distinctive parliament debating chambers in Europe will be put under the microscope by representatives from The Scottish Parliament during a fact-finding visit later this week.

Three members of The Scottish Parliament Corporate Body (SPCB) will visit the Flemish Parliament in Brussels on Thursday and the building housing the second chamber (Tweede Kamer) of the Dutch Parliament in The Hague on Friday.

Presiding Officer Sir David Steel will lead the delegation as chair of the SPCB, and he will be accompanied by two of the four other members – Robert Brown MSP and Andrew Welsh MSP. They will be joined by two key members of the design team for the Holyrood Parliament project – architect Enric Miralles and Brian Stewart, managing director of RMJM.

The main purpose of the visit is to view first hand the respective debating chambers, in light of the views expressed by many MSPs about the proposed shape of the Holyrood chamber during last month’s seminars and debates about the new Parliament building.

Speaking ahead of the visit, Sir David said:

"The Parliament recently decided to continue with the Holyrood Project to establish a permanent home for the Scottish Parliament. However, during the seminars we organised for MSPs with the design team, and in the debate itself, several Members expressed reservations over the design and layout of the chamber at Holyrood as proposed at that stage by the design team.

"Some Members felt the design was a bit too radical in its approach while others claimed the design was not conducive to vigorous debate, for example by not affording proper opportunity for direct eye contact between Government and opposition.

"The delegation visiting the Flemish and Dutch Parliaments will do so on behalf of the SPCB and will report back to the Body in early August. We will also want to report our findings to Parliament as a whole and it may be that our visit influences the final design of the Scottish Parliament chamber.

"We will be looking at a number of specific issues, including sight lines, public capacity, access for the disabled, the ability to change the seating pattern and the general configuration of the chambers."

BACKGROUND NOTES

Prior to last month’s debate members of the design team had sought to allay fears about the shape of the debating chamber by explaining the merits of their proposals, especially the aim to ensure equality of access and position in the chamber for all Members, and by citing examples of similar designs in use in other parliament buildings.

In particular, the Flemish Parliament was identified as having a debating chamber which was similar in floorplan shape to the design proposed by Enric Miralles. The chamber there is of an elongated horseshoe design with a cambered main floor but the latter is not considered conducive to the physically disabled. The presiding officer’s dais is positioned in the centre of the floor in a raised vantage point but with level access from the rear, thus assisting wheelchair access.

It was considered that the chamber was sufficiently close enough in design to that of Snr. Miralles that it would prove beneficial for members of the SPCB to have the opportunity to visit in person and talk with members and officials who used the chamber on a daily basis.

Sir David’s team will also take the opportunity to visit the Tweede Kamer, the lower house of the Dutch Parliament, at The Hague where the more fan-shaped debating chamber was designed and constructed within the past 10 years. Each Member has a "named" seat arranged together by political party and facing the presiding officer. The complex there is a combination of existing historic buildings and new design, a situation again broadly similar to that envisaged at Holyrood.

Andrew Slorance: 0131 348 5389
email: sp.media@scottish.parliament.uk

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