Scottish Parliament

Address Horse Wynd, Edinburgh EH99 1SP

The Scottish Parliament building, opened in 2004, is one of the most discussed works of contemporary architecture in Britain. The building by Enric Miralles is deliberately complex — abstract leaf shapes, cantilevered concrete, irregular windows with a distinctive cross-section profile that appears on the MSP offices facing Canongate. It is polarising: some find it brilliant, others merely baffling. Either way, it is worth seeing up close.

Free guided tours run throughout the week when parliament is not in session, covering the debating chamber, the Garden Lobby and the MSP offices. Watching a debate from the public gallery is possible when parliament is sitting — check the parliament website for the schedule. The visitor centre has background on the building, the devolution settlement and the history of Scottish self-government.

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A story
The building was designed by Catalan architect Enric Miralles, who died in 2000, two years before it opened. The design is notoriously unusual — leaves, boats, upturned fishing vessels, the landscapes of the Pentland Hills — all folded into a building that sits at the foot of Salisbury Crags. Miralles described it as "a building that grows from the ground." The Scottish Parliament voted to use the Miralles design in a competitive process, over cheaper and more conventional alternatives.