Cardiff Bay Waterfront, Cardiff, City of Cardiff, Wales

Map of Senedd location

The Senedd, or the Wales National Assembly Building, is situated on the Cardiff Bay Waterfront, City of Cardiff, Wales. The Senedd is the home of the National Assembly for Wales. This building, which is more or less invisible, was in the running for a top European architectural award, the Royal Institute of British Architects Stirling Prize. Has the world gone mad? It was my wife Eira Wyn who described it to me as looking like a football terrace. It reminds me more of the fencing round a cattle market. (I believe the locals call it Papa Smurf, referring to the floppy hat style roof ventilation). The Richard Rogers Partnership, excellent architects who have designed many great buildings, were "having a larf" when they came up with this design. Probably as revenge on Rhodri Morgan for his rejection of their original designs and estimates. How could this "invisible" building be in any way compared to the likes of the Gherkin in London, or the Gateshead's Millennium Bridge? But what surprises me is why nobody else has noticed that the Emperor is wearing no clothes. Fair enough if the Labour party sycophants praise the building to the limits. But for so called opposition members such as the assembly presiding officer Dafydd Elis Thomas to say of the Senedd: "This is the space under the tree where people come together to discuss the future of the nation." ....From which tree has he fallen to come out with that clap trap? I presume that Dafydd Elis Thomas thinks that the design suggests openness and freedom of access, but when we tried to enter the Senedd we had to pass through metal detectors and undergo a full body search. Needless to say we did not hang around and left the Senedd and its security guards to find a bit of freedom in the open air of the Cardiff waterfront.....

More Information >>