The Scottish Parliament

I am suddenly conscious , with only four  weeks to dissolution and only ten until the election , of how rarely I have taken pictures of the Scottish Parliament , which must now be one of the most photographed buildings in Scotland as well as one of the most visited.

So perhaps I might try and take a few between now and the 22nd of March.  This one - taken this morning on my way in to work- shows one of the entrances ( which is also used after receptions in the Garden Lobby as a public exit) with the MSP block in the background and Queensberry House on the right, within which the Presiding Officer has has offices.

The wooden slats are an elegant design feature all over the exterior although they have recently been dismounted and re-stained as they were fading quite badly.  My office in the Ministerial tower (the building on the left) is almost directly above where I stood to take the picture.  

The controversy over the building and it's cost raged for years.  That cost was outrageous and the process of supervising its construction was deeply flawed.  However most people now admire it and whilst it has it's impracticalities it is a work of design genius.  There are regular tours available and it is very much worth seeing.