The future of the Palace of Westminster; Re-imaginging the ruin/Re-unifying the nation
As the dust settles on the 2015 General Election, what does the unexpected result mean for the United Kingdom and what now becomes of one of its most notable buildings?
In 2012 it was reported in the media that the Palace of Westminster, more commonly known as the Houses of Parliament, required urgent restoration and renewal to the tune of £3 billion. As we live in a time of austerity, it is unsurprising that this impending bill to the taxpayer featured little, if at all in the election debate. Though given the extent of the problem and necessity to act the question or perhaps even the destination of the symbolic home of UK Government must be confronted within the course of the coming parliament.
The required decisive action cannot be undertaken lightly. A project of this gravitas requires a sustained period of research, planning and consultation: involving all that use the building and the public. In a time where there is a current for instant wins and sustained change hindered by the lifetime of a parliament (up to five years), it is important not to underestimate the long-term requirements of this project. Furthermore, given the projected cost, of course it is cheaper to go elsewhere, even potentially cohesive to travel north though I am afraid I am not the architect to run away from the problem. Neither am I going to portray the building as a Kuwaiti funded hotel, a Disneyland museum or as a social housing estate. Whilst these ideas shock they would prove more fleeting than our own mortality. Remember that a building, instrumental in the life of our nation has sat on this site since 1097 and now for some 918 years. The weight of history is one thing, the weight of a civilisation another.
Before we go on it is important to state that the past alone must not dictate the future. As the present it is a constituent of any proceeding intervention. Though what of today? Well if the division didn’t materialise between the three main parties, division was clear and cutting in Scotland. Following the referendum in 2014, the mood in Scotland for independence has grown ever stronger. This mood and the Smith Commission mean that the incoming Government will further devolve powers to Holyrood. Whilst the feeling in Scotland is charged to independence over time analysts will suggest that the Conservative majority returned was England’s referendum on remaining a Union. However much the restoration of Parliament is swept under the veiling carpets of Westminster, the question of the state of the Union will refuse to be silenced. Increasingly the question of separation will re-emerge until there is fundamental change through policy and attitude.
However much I believe in my craft, architecture does not make policy, nor does it do the necessary hard work of legitimising federal reforms. Though, as it has done for centuries, it makes homes, schools, offices, town halls, museums, even parliaments that define the way we want to live and be remembered. Visit the Palace of Westminster today and the Union is symbolically etched into the very fabric. For example, in the octagonal Central Lobby each portal is adorned by the patron saint of England, Scotland, Wales and Ireland. If the Houses of Parliament is to be restored and not sold on, there is an opportunity to use architecture as a protagonist in the reunification of our country.
The drawing that accompanies this essay proposes a long-term plan for the Palace, based on re-imagining the ruin and re-unifying the country. Further to these central aims it also proposes to further integrate the public into the most public of institutions.
The building is a hybrid of old and new, combining a modern home for Government with an energy farm, new public library, garden and education centre. To achieve this ambitious programme the project exploits existing courtyards, new underground spaces and the dynamic roofscape. The Common’s public library provides an opportunity for research, whilst the education centre becomes a learning space for younger generations. The Union Garden symbolically unifies flowers from all corners of the Union; veiling the roofscape and cascading into courtyards it provides a new public space for contemplation and debate. Furthermore, with no decant strategy a temporary chamber will provide space for the Common’s and the Lords whilst required restoration is undertaken. This space also provides a home for the People’s Convention.
To ensure the long-term viability of the project an energy and re-use strategy is integrated from the outset. Becoming the first green parliament the building is powered exclusively by the Thames tide, with excess energy sold to the grid to feed London’s escalating energy demands. Furthermore, all excavated clay is collected to provide the raw material to make bricks to help build the Government’s new housing quota. Leasing both the Union Garden and Energy Farm to private investors provides further funding.
Existing between ruin and construction the next 100 years of the building’s life will require a creative occupation by the monarch, ministers, Lords and public. In a time when many are disillusioned with the political process in the UK and change set to the speed of the lifetime of a parliament (up to five years) this project aims to re-imagine the long-term future of the United Kingdom’s symbolic home of government.
As I have said architecture does not make policy, or reform, though it can and must engage in contemporary debate. We stand at a terminal point in the Union of the United Kingdom. As UK politics devolves further, architecture can sustain. As powers fracture, architecture can unify. The Palace of Westminster is uniquely placed in this debate and will remain the enduring monument: the lasting reminder and the evolving modernity.
The Palace has and can be again the symbolic unification of Great Britain.
