Elsewhere, the committee rooms witth their amoeboid tables and boat-hull ceilings are as enlivening as such places are normally dispiriting. The offices for MSPs ("Members of Scottish Parliament") were the first part of the complex to be completed and are no bigger than they need to be, but are redeemed from being too cell-like by those extraordinary projectiing window-seats. I have no idea why Miralles drew them that way, but I do know that they are wonderfully comfortable, secure-feeling places to sit and think. You can look out and down to the bustle below, or you can simply stare up at the clouds through strategically-placed rooflights.

In Queensberry House, the contemporary feel continues, though in more conservative vein, with the few historic interior features remaining (such as the basement ovens) given their due importance. The little library room, to be filled with books of Donald Dewar, is near-perfect of its kind, the bookshelves architectuure in miniature.

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