Senedd

The Senedd is the building in Cardiff Bay, Wales, that houses the debating chamber and committee rooms of the Senedd, the devolved Welsh Parliament, along with support offices for its members and commission staff. Designed by the Richard Rogers Partnership, now Rogers Stirk Harbour and Partners, it cost about 69.6 million pounds to build and was opened by Queen Elizabeth II on 1 March 2006. Covering 5,308 square meters, the building is built in a sustainable, high tech style with a glass facade running around its full perimeter and a rotating steel roof cowl, described as the world's largest free rotating wind driven cowl, positioned six meters above the roof to ventilate the debating chamber naturally. Inside, an undulating ceiling of Canadian western red cedar timber spans the public spaces, and the circular debating chamber, known in Welsh as Y Siambr, seats members in the round beneath the cowl; a glass floored public gallery and a stepped waterfront entrance were designed to keep the legislature visibly open to the public.