Senedd building
The Senedd building, in Cardiff, houses the debating chamber and three committee rooms of the Senedd. The 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, 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.
Architecture
The Senedd building is in the former Cardiff Docks, about 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 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.
Environmental features
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.
Interior and contents
Y Siambr is a debating chamber, which holds all 60 Members of the Senedd 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.In front of the Llywydd's desk is the ceremonial mace. Melbourne goldsmith Fortunato Rocca was commissioned by the Parliament of New South Wales in 2002 to design it. The mace took 300 hours to craft and is made from gold, silver and brass. In 2006, it was worth around £10,500 and was handed over to the National Assembly during the opening ceremony.
All committee meetings are held in three committee rooms. Each can accommodate 24 people, although committee rooms 1 and 2 can both hold 34 when fully opened. Members of the public can access the committee room viewing galleries from the Neuadd, which holds 31 people.
Members of the public enter the building through Y Neuadd. This first floor level houses the public reception and information area. The reception desk features a large slate and glass desk and a canopy. Stairs to the left of the desk lead to the Oriel on the second floor.
Yr Oriel is a public sitting and exhibition area with views down to Y Siambr and committee rooms. The glass flooring, which surrounds a large funnel feature, enables visitors to look down into the Siambr two floors below. The Swan chairs selected for the Neuadd and Oriel areas were from Fritz Hansen, a Danish company, and originally designed by Arne Jacobsen in 1958.
Y Cwrt is an area on the ground floor with a members' tea room, a media briefing room, and access to the Siambr and committee rooms. It is accessible only to MSs, officials of the Senedd and members of the press.
An undulating ceiling made of Canadian-sourced Western Redcedar timber spans across the various sections of the building. It was manufactured and installed by BCL Timber Projects.
Artwork
Four pieces of art were originally commissioned by the National Assembly to be both decorative and functional; they cost £300,000 in total. The Swansea-based artist Alexander Beleschenko designed and created the circular and domed Heart of Wales for the centre of the Siambr. It is wide, made out of blue and gold glass, and lit from beneath. Martin Richman designed and created 270 fabric-covered acoustic absorption panels, which were dyed and painted. American sculptor Danny Lane designed and created the wind hedge, Assembly Field. It has five parallel rows of 32 glass plates and was designed to have the practical use of protecting the public from high winds coming off Cardiff Bay. Devon-born sculptor Richard Harris created The Meeting Place on the Plinth, which is 45 tonnes of slate machine-cut into 39 slate slabs; the slate was from Cwt y Bugail Quarry in north Wales. It is an informal seating area south of the building. Harris said of the work, "I wanted to create a space that was to the side of the building, that related closely to the building but was very inviting for people to use – somewhere quieter that people could sit and spend some time."In 2008, two temporary tinplate portraits were commissioned by the National Assembly for Wales. The artist was Dylan Hammond, and each portrait, one of Aneurin Bevan and the other of Margaret Thatcher measured x. They were on display for 3 months.
The Welsh sculptor and blacksmith Angharad Pearce Jones designed and created the Three Maps of Wales that were unveiled in 2021. They were made from Port Talbot steel at her workshop near Brynamman and are on permanent display. They consist of three large steel maps of Wales, the smallest shows the boundaries of the 5 electoral regions of the Senedd, the other the 40 constituencies of the Senedd and the largest being the landscape of Wales and weights and is wide and just over 2 metres high. The largest map of the Welsh landscape is on wheels so it can be displayed in other parts of the building if needed.
Etymology
The Welsh word senedd means 'senate' or 'parliament'. The Roman Senate used the word Senatus in its name, which is derived from the Latin word senex, meaning 'old man', 'old age', 'elder' or 'council of elders'.Background and construction
First site selection process
Under the Laws in Wales Act 1536 Wales was fully incorporated into England and administered as a single sovereign state with a single legal system. It was in 1964 that the Secretary of State for Wales was created as a Cabinet post, which gave some powers to Wales. A referendum was held in 1979 to decide whether there was support for a Welsh Assembly among the Welsh electorate. This was defeated with a majority of 20.2% for and 79.7% against.After the 1997 United Kingdom general election, the Labour Government published a white paper in July 1997, called A Voice for Wales; in it, the UK Government proposed that " headquarters will be in Cardiff ... setting up the Assembly is likely to cost between £12M and £17M. Additional running costs should be between £15M and £20M a year." On 18 September 1997, Wales voted in favour of a National Assembly for Wales in the Welsh devolution referendum, with 50.30% for and 49.70% against. The Government of Wales Act 1998 was passed by the Parliament of the United Kingdom, and was granted Royal Assent on 31 July 1998.
Before the referendum took place, the Welsh Office asked Symonds Facilities Management to investigate possible sites for a new Welsh Assembly. The study was carried out in June 1997, and it considered 20 sites. By August 1997, the Welsh Office and the Property Advisors to the Civil Estate produced a shortlist of five sites for selection: the Cathays Park Building ; the Coal Exchange in Cardiff Bay; a site next to County Hall in Cardiff Bay; the former Glamorgan County Hall, Cathays Park; and Cardiff City Hall, Cathays Park, owned by Cardiff Council. In making their decision they considered the need for a space of that would be ready to use by May 1999. The building was to be of appropriate stature, location and quality, and provide good access for the disabled and good staff accommodation that would avoid disruption to existing staff.
From the five on the shortlist, two sites were selected for further consideration: the Cathays Park Building and Cardiff City Hall. Cardiff City Hall was favoured because the executive and legislative functions would be separated; Cardiff City Hall was more widely recognised by the Welsh public and was a more prestigious building compared with the Cathays Park Building. The move to Cardiff City Hall would have also avoided a disruptive move for Welsh Office staff at the Cathays Park Building. The Welsh Office concluded that Cardiff City Hall would only remain an option if the initial costs were £17M or less, which was the top end of the estimate figure given in the White Paper. This would only be possible if essential works were carried out immediately and the remainder of the work carried out later. Cardiff Council would need to agree a selling price of £5M or less for this to be possible.
There were discussions between the leader of Cardiff Council, Russell Goodway, and the Secretary of State for Wales, Ron Davies MP. The two disagreed on the valuation of the site: Davies offered what was believed to be the market price of £3.5 million; Goodway demanded £14 million for the relocation of Council staff. In October 1997, both the Welsh Office and Cardiff Council agreed to the District Valuer providing an independent assessment of the market value of Cardiff City Hall and the cost of staff relocating to an equivalent standard of accommodation. The District Valuer advised that the open market value of Cardiff City Hall was £3.5 million. There was not enough information available for the District Valuer to make a decision. A bid of £2.5 million was made by the Welsh Office on 14 November 1997, which was rejected on 21 November 1997. A final offer of £3.5 million was made on 24 November and this too was rejected by Cardiff County Council. Davies later announced his decision not to go ahead with the Cardiff City Hall site for the National Assembly.