Parliament of Scotland (TV/Broadcasting Spaces)
Edinburgh, Scotland

Scotland’s parliamentary debates are televised, so the Parliament’s meeting spaces needed to meet stringent lighting criteria for broadcasting. Instead of using grid gantries that would make the spaces feel like television studios, highly technical lighting requirements were integrated into the rooms’ aesthetically varied designs.

The Debating Chamber features large expanses of glazing for daylighting, a potentially disruptive light source. At the master-planning stage of the design, we suggested rotating the debating chamber and positioning the adjacent leaf-shaped towers so that they would act as giant louvers in plan. Together, these buildings shield the chamber from direct sunlight during broadcast hours. Detailed 3D computer models and lighting calculations were then used to ‘virtually’ position and aim individual luminaires within the asymmetrical, open ceiling.

In the geometrically complex committee rooms, a hybrid strategy of lights recessed in ceiling slots and clustered, hanging pendants was used to meet broadcast lighting criteria

Client: Secretary of State of Scotland and the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body
Architect: Enric Miralles/Benedetta Tagliabue with RMJM Scotland
Photos: Keith Hunter/Arcblue (1,3), Roland Halbe (2), Graphics: OVI