The Scottish Parliament Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

The Scottish Parliament - Essay Example On October 9th 2004, the Scottish Parliament building was officially opened, marked by the Queens words, "Holyrood is a landmark for 21st century democracy" (The Scottish Parliament n.d.). Holyroodhouse is the only Scottish Palace that is still used by the Queen as Her Majesty's official residence. As can be inferred, a royal residency with only five centuries of history has been of vast interest of the Scottish. As illustrated in the words of Ian Gow, "[Holyroodhouse] is a picturesque visual experience" (Gow 1998). Gow's furthermore meaning was portrayed in his quote, 'If in spending as much money as we do as a nation on the preservation of our great houses, we are sincerely trying to preserve part of our cultural heritage and not merely providing subjects for Christmas calendars, we must present these houses coherently to the public so that it can indeed learn to appreciate what their true place was in our history' (Gow 1998). It was essential to demonstrate first the status of Holyroodhouse as a Royal residency and its relishing architecture before analyzing the Holyrood Project. From the beginning of the project, there was a lot of controversy going on regarding the Holyrood Project. The Holyrood Project was, in short, building Scotland's new Parliament buildings adjacent to the Palace of Holyroodhouse. ... rban archaeological excavation in Scotland's history (The Scottish Parliament n.d.) The Project went on as planned, but the estimating cost of the Project as well as the completion date was completely off tangent. The Project can be discussed in depth, however for the purpose of this paper, only certain stages of procurement with respect to the successes and failures will be analyzed. Procurement: On July of 1998, it was decided that construction management will be adopted as the procurement vehicle and it was also decided that the appointment of a construction manager would be taken at the earliest opportunity (The Holyrood Inquiry n.d.). It was perhaps the most significant decisions taken during the course of the Project to make construction management as the procurement vehicle. It is necessary to understand what the function of the construction management is. It was developed in the late 1980's as a fast-track method of construction procurement. Prior to the construction management, else known as traditional contracting, a design would be completed before the construction work starts and then is put out to tender until a contractor is chosen to carry out that work. However, with construction management, the tendering and construction overlap (The Holyrood Inquiry n.d.) The advantage of construction management is that it speeds up the process; however a big disadvantage is the uncertain cost of the project. As can be seen with the Holyrood Project, speed and cost were both an issue. Around late December of 2003, a well renowned advisor, who had nothing first-hand to do with the project, was called in to consult on the concept construction management. Mr. Colin Carter of independent professional advice and services was appointed to give construction