Senedd

The Senedd (English: Senate), previously called the National Assembly building, contains the debating chamber and 3 committee rooms for the Welsh Parliament in Cardiff. The building is 5,308 square meters (57,100 sq ft) large.

Senedd
Alternative names	Welsh Parliament building
General information
Architectural style	Sustainable architecture, High-tech architecture
Location	Cardiff, Wales
Address	Senedd Cymru, Cardiff. CF99 1NA
Coordinates	51.463901°N 3.162082°W / 51.463901; -3.162082
Construction started	1 March 2001
Completed	7 February 2006
Inaugurated	1 March 2006
Cost	GB£69.6 million
Owner	Senedd Cymru
Technical details
Floor count	3
Floor area	5,308 square metres (57,000 sq ft)
Design and construction
Architecture firm	Richard Rogers Partnership
Structural engineer	Arup
Services engineer	BDSP Partnership and MJN Colston
Main contractor	Skanska (phase 1) Taylor Woodrow (phase 2)

History

After 2 selection processes were held, it was decided a new debating chamber for Wales was to built on a new site, Site 1E, at Capital Waterside in Cardiff Bay.

Design

Richard Rogers, an architect who had won the Pritzker Prize, won the international competition to design the building. It was designed to be sustainable, with renewable technologies, and to be energy efficient. The building was awarded an "Excellent" certification by the Building Research Establishment Environmental Assessment Method, the highest ever certification to be awarded in Wales, and was nominated for the 2006 Stirling Prize. The Senedd is now a symbol of Cardiff, and Wales.

Building the Senedd

The Senedd was constructed in two phases, the first in 2001 and the second starting in August 2003, until it was handed over to the National Assembly in February 2006.

Between the phases, the National Assembly changed contractors and the management structure of the project, but kept Rogers as architect.

Once finished, the building cost almost 6 times more than expected, and was finished 4 years and 10 months late (compared to estimates in 1997).

The cost grew because of the extra security that had to be added after the September 11 attacks, and because the National Assembly did not have an independent estimate of the project's cost until December 2000, three years after the original estimate. The costs of the second phase grew by less than 6% over budget, and was 6 months late, because of ICT problems.

It was opened by Queen Elizabeth II on 1 March 2006 and it cost £69.6 million, which included £49.7 million in construction costs. The Senedd is part of the land owned by the National Assembly that includes Tŷ Hywel and the Pierhead Building.