Daylighting: Natural Light in Architecture

Portcullis House, Westminster

Architect Michael Hopkins and Partners

Engineer Ove Arup & Partners

Client House of Commons, Palace of Westminster

Thehistoryofthesiteforthenew
Parliamentary Building ^ or as it is now called,
Portcullis House ^ goes back several decades;
the architect Michael Hopkins’s involvement
started in 1989 with a space audit of the
accommodation which might be required for
Members of Parliament. It was not until the
interchange for the new Jubilee Line extension
at Westminster Underground was approved,
that this paved the way for a radical new
approach to the site; in which the new
Parliamentary Building was conceived as an
integral planning and structural solution
together with a much enlarged underground
station.
Located in a world heritage site, placed
between Pugin’s Houses of Parliament and
Norman Shaw’s Scotland Yard, the site posed

many problems which required a unique

solution to provide 210 individual offices for

Members of Parliament, with all the associated

ancillary accommodation; together with a

pedestrian connection under Bridge Street to

‘the House’ to enable Members of Parliament

to react swiftly to the division bell.

The daylighting strategy is determined by

the plan, in which the MPs’ offices are

arranged around a hollow rectangular

courtyard, with rooms on four floors for the

MPs, which look outwards or inwards to the

courtyard; rooms have balconies and french

windows with rooms to the outside having

their own bay window.

The public face of the building at street

level presents a colonnade to Bridge Street,

containing shops and the entrance to the

Tube. The main entrance to the building itself

is from the river side, on the Embankment. At

ground level the courtyard has an enclosed

area with a vaulted glazed roof, where MPs

can congregate and meet their constituents.

Two rows of trees create an avenue with a

central water feature, all enlivened by

excellent daylighting.

At the first floor level are housed meeting

rooms and rooms for public select

committees, whilst support facilities are

housed at the lower ground level.

The building is not air conditioned, and the

brief for the building required that the energy

consumption should be only one third of that

for a traditional air-conditioned building. The

section through the window (see fourth plan)

indicates the triple glazed window used for

82 Daylighting: Natural Light in Architecture

Street level plan. Shows central covered courtyard

Michael Hopkins & Ptnrs