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Senedd building
The Senedd building (Welsh pronunciation: [ˈsɛnɛð]), in Cardiff, houses the debating chamber and three committee rooms of the Senedd (Welsh Parliament; Welsh: Senedd Cymru; formerly the National Assembly for Wales). The 5,308-square-metre (57,100 sq ft) Senedd building was opened by Queen Elizabeth II on 1 March 2006, Saint David's Day, and the total cost was £69.6 million, which included £49.7 million in construction costs. The Senedd building is part of the Senedd estate that includes Tŷ Hywel and the Pierhead Building.
After two selection processes, it was decided that the debating chamber would be on a new site, called Site 1E, at Capital Waterside in Cardiff Bay. The Pritzker Prize-winning architect Lord Rogers of Riverside won an international architectural design competition, managed by RIBA Competitions, to design the building. It was designed to be sustainable with the use of renewable technologies and energy efficiency integrated into its design. The building was awarded an "Excellent" certification by the Building Research Establishment Environmental Assessment Method (BREEAM), and was nominated for the 2006 Stirling Prize.
The Senedd building was constructed in two phases, the first in 2001 and the second from August 2003 until it was handed over to the then National Assembly for Wales in February 2006. Between phases, the National Assembly changed contractors and the project's management structure, but retained Lord Rogers of Riverside as the scheme architect. The building was nearly six times over budget and four years and 10 months late, compared to the original estimates of the project in 1997. Total costs rose due to unforeseen security measures after the 11 September attacks, and because the National Assembly did not have an independent cost appraisal of the project until December 2000, three years after the original estimate. Phase 2 costs rose by less than 6% over budget, and that phase was six months late.
The Senedd building is in the former Cardiff Docks, about 3 kilometres (1.9 mi) south of Cardiff Castle. Cardiff Docks had been the largest coal-exporting port in the world, but by the 1980s with the decline of the south Wales coalfield, the area had gradually become derelict. By the 1990s the area was being transformed with the construction of the Cardiff Bay Barrage and was renamed Cardiff Bay.
The building faces southwest over Cardiff Bay, it has a glass façade around the entire building and is dominated by a steel roof and wood ceiling. It has three floors; the first and second floors are accessible to the public and the ground floor is a private area for officials. The building was designed to be as open and accessible as possible, the architects, the Richard Rogers Partnership (RRP) said "The building was not to be an insular, closed edifice. Rather it would be a transparent envelope, looking outwards to Cardiff Bay and beyond, making visible the inner workings of the Assembly and encouraging public participation in the democratic process." The main area in the building is the debating chamber, called the Siambr, including a public viewing gallery. Other areas of the building are the Neuadd, which is the main reception area on the first floor and the Oriel on the second floor. The three committee rooms and the Cwrt are on the ground floor.
The design criteria required sustainability, including a design life of 100 years, the use of local Welsh materials, minimal energy consumption and waste, the use of renewable technologies and for it to be an exemplar in terms of sustainability.
In total, 36% of all materials and labour costs were spent in Wales, with about 1,000 tonnes of Welsh slate used. The environmental features of the building have allowed energy savings of between 30% and 50% compared to buildings without these features. The features include 27 pipes that were drilled 100m below ground, so that during cold spells, water is pumped through the pipes and heated to 14 °C by geothermal energy. The hot water is then pumped back up to the slate floor to warm the building to a constant temperature. In warm spells, the same system helps to keep the building cool. A biomass boiler was installed to use wood chips from recycled waste wood to heat the building, and rainwater is collected from the roof to flush the toilets in the building.
Y Siambr (The Chamber; Welsh pronunciation: [/ə ʃambr/]) is a 610 m2 (6,600 sq ft) debating chamber, which holds all 60 Members of the Senedd (MSs) in a circular configuration under the cowl. The Siambr can be increased to accommodate 80 MSs in the future, by removing temporary walls. On the level above is the public viewing gallery, which looks down on the debating chamber and is separated by security glass. The public gallery holds 128 people on two rows of seats. The MSs' desks and public gallery seating are made of Welsh oak in a circular configuration so that all MSs can see each other, which, it is claimed, makes debating less confrontational. Between April 2025 and March 2026, Y Siambr is undergoing refurbishment to increase its capacity to 96 in order to accommodate the larger number of members that will be returned at the Senedd election. During this time, plenary sessions of the Senedd are held in Siambr Hywel within Tŷ Hywel adjacent to the Senedd building.
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Senedd building
The Senedd building (Welsh pronunciation: [ˈsɛnɛð]), in Cardiff, houses the debating chamber and three committee rooms of the Senedd (Welsh Parliament; Welsh: Senedd Cymru; formerly the National Assembly for Wales). The 5,308-square-metre (57,100 sq ft) Senedd building was opened by Queen Elizabeth II on 1 March 2006, Saint David's Day, and the total cost was £69.6 million, which included £49.7 million in construction costs. The Senedd building is part of the Senedd estate that includes Tŷ Hywel and the Pierhead Building.
After two selection processes, it was decided that the debating chamber would be on a new site, called Site 1E, at Capital Waterside in Cardiff Bay. The Pritzker Prize-winning architect Lord Rogers of Riverside won an international architectural design competition, managed by RIBA Competitions, to design the building. It was designed to be sustainable with the use of renewable technologies and energy efficiency integrated into its design. The building was awarded an "Excellent" certification by the Building Research Establishment Environmental Assessment Method (BREEAM), and was nominated for the 2006 Stirling Prize.
The Senedd building was constructed in two phases, the first in 2001 and the second from August 2003 until it was handed over to the then National Assembly for Wales in February 2006. Between phases, the National Assembly changed contractors and the project's management structure, but retained Lord Rogers of Riverside as the scheme architect. The building was nearly six times over budget and four years and 10 months late, compared to the original estimates of the project in 1997. Total costs rose due to unforeseen security measures after the 11 September attacks, and because the National Assembly did not have an independent cost appraisal of the project until December 2000, three years after the original estimate. Phase 2 costs rose by less than 6% over budget, and that phase was six months late.
The Senedd building is in the former Cardiff Docks, about 3 kilometres (1.9 mi) south of Cardiff Castle. Cardiff Docks had been the largest coal-exporting port in the world, but by the 1980s with the decline of the south Wales coalfield, the area had gradually become derelict. By the 1990s the area was being transformed with the construction of the Cardiff Bay Barrage and was renamed Cardiff Bay.
The building faces southwest over Cardiff Bay, it has a glass façade around the entire building and is dominated by a steel roof and wood ceiling. It has three floors; the first and second floors are accessible to the public and the ground floor is a private area for officials. The building was designed to be as open and accessible as possible, the architects, the Richard Rogers Partnership (RRP) said "The building was not to be an insular, closed edifice. Rather it would be a transparent envelope, looking outwards to Cardiff Bay and beyond, making visible the inner workings of the Assembly and encouraging public participation in the democratic process." The main area in the building is the debating chamber, called the Siambr, including a public viewing gallery. Other areas of the building are the Neuadd, which is the main reception area on the first floor and the Oriel on the second floor. The three committee rooms and the Cwrt are on the ground floor.
The design criteria required sustainability, including a design life of 100 years, the use of local Welsh materials, minimal energy consumption and waste, the use of renewable technologies and for it to be an exemplar in terms of sustainability.
In total, 36% of all materials and labour costs were spent in Wales, with about 1,000 tonnes of Welsh slate used. The environmental features of the building have allowed energy savings of between 30% and 50% compared to buildings without these features. The features include 27 pipes that were drilled 100m below ground, so that during cold spells, water is pumped through the pipes and heated to 14 °C by geothermal energy. The hot water is then pumped back up to the slate floor to warm the building to a constant temperature. In warm spells, the same system helps to keep the building cool. A biomass boiler was installed to use wood chips from recycled waste wood to heat the building, and rainwater is collected from the roof to flush the toilets in the building.
Y Siambr (The Chamber; Welsh pronunciation: [/ə ʃambr/]) is a 610 m2 (6,600 sq ft) debating chamber, which holds all 60 Members of the Senedd (MSs) in a circular configuration under the cowl. The Siambr can be increased to accommodate 80 MSs in the future, by removing temporary walls. On the level above is the public viewing gallery, which looks down on the debating chamber and is separated by security glass. The public gallery holds 128 people on two rows of seats. The MSs' desks and public gallery seating are made of Welsh oak in a circular configuration so that all MSs can see each other, which, it is claimed, makes debating less confrontational. Between April 2025 and March 2026, Y Siambr is undergoing refurbishment to increase its capacity to 96 in order to accommodate the larger number of members that will be returned at the Senedd election. During this time, plenary sessions of the Senedd are held in Siambr Hywel within Tŷ Hywel adjacent to the Senedd building.
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