Parliament House

Parliament House in Canberra is the meeting place of the Parliament of Australia, the legislative branch of the country's federal government. Situated on Capital Hill at the southern apex of Walter Burley Griffin's National Triangle, it also houses the core of the executive branch, including the cabinet room and offices of the prime minister and other federal ministers. Opened in 1988, it replaced Old Parliament House, which had served as a provisional home for federal parliament for 61 years. The building was designed by Mitchell/Giurgola & Thorp Architects and constructed by a joint venture of Concrete Constructions and John Holland.

The path to a permanent parliament house began with Australian federation in 1901. Section 125 of the Australian Constitution mandated a federal capital in New South Wales, at least 100 miles from Sydney, due to rivalry between Melbourne and Sydney. Parliament sat in Melbourne until 1927, while the Victorian State Parliament occupied the nearby Royal Exhibition Building. In 1909, Canberra was selected as the site, and the Commonwealth acquired the land in 1911, though World War I delayed development.

Old Parliament House opened on 9 May 1927 as a provisional building intended to last 50 years, but it served for 61 years amid chronic space shortages. The Parliament Act 1974 finally determined that Capital Hill would host the permanent building. In 1978, the Fraser government established the Parliament House Construction Authority, which launched a two-stage international competition that drew 329 entries from 29 countries. Construction began in 1981 with a target completion of Australia Day 1988 and a budget of $220 million. Neither deadline nor budget was met. The building was officially opened by Queen Elizabeth II on 9 May 1988, deliberately chosen to mark the anniversaries of the first federal parliament in Melbourne (1901) and the opening of Old Parliament House (1927). Final costs exceeded $1.1 billion, making it Australia's most expensive building.

Parliament House does not function as a traditional museum or art collection, but rather as a working seat of government with significant architectural, artistic, and ceremonial elements integrated into its design. The building contains 4,700 rooms and accommodates both parliamentary functions and executive operations. Its spaces include the chambers of the Senate and the House of Representatives, committee rooms, ministerial offices, and extensive public areas. The integration of landscape architecture was given unusual prominence, with Peter G. Rolland directing civil engineers in a reversal of traditional roles, overseeing pool design, paving, conceptual lighting, and artwork locations. Horticultural experts from the Australian National Botanic Gardens and a government nursery advised on plant selection, with permanent irrigation limited to formal areas.

The building's most prominent feature is its 81-metre flagpole, one of the world's largest stainless steel structures, weighing 220 tonnes and constructed from steel sourced from a Newcastle steelworks. The Australian flag it flies measures 12.8 by 6.4 metres and weighs approximately 15 kilograms. The structure contains 300,000 cubic metres of concrete and was engineered by Irwinconsult with a designed lifespan of 200 years. The curved walls are clad in 23,000 granite panels. The main foyer features a marble staircase. The House of Representatives chamber is decorated in green, while the Senate chamber is red. Between the two chambers lies the Members' Hall, which is not open to the public. The building also contains 2,416 clocks. The spire supporting the flagpole traces the outline of the triangular capitol building envisioned in Griffin's original plan for Canberra.

The building occupies a commanding position atop Capital Hill, at the intersection of Commonwealth, Adelaide, Canberra and Kings Avenues, enclosed by State Circle. Walter Burley Griffin's original design placed Parliament House on Camp Hill, with a Capitol building on Capital Hill; the final design inverts this relationship by burying most of the parliament building within Capital Hill and capping it with the flagpole. Approximately one million cubic metres of rock were excavated, and the upper half of the hill was removed before being replaced over the completed structure. The roof is grassed. From above, the 32-hectare site resembles two boomerangs enclosed within a circle. The building was designed to appear to sit above Old Parliament House when viewed from a distance, and its facades deliberately echo patterns from the older building despite the massive difference in scale. The structure stands four metres higher than the original hilltop.

Parliament House is located in central Canberra and remains largely open to the public despite significantly enhanced security in recent years. The building is owned by the Australian Government and administered through its official website at aph.gov.au. When parliament is not sitting, the building still accommodates 2,000 to 3,000 workers daily. Visitors can access many areas including the main foyer with its marble staircase, the public galleries of both parliamentary chambers, and various exhibition spaces. The ministerial wing, containing the prime minister's office and other ministers' offices, forms part of the executive function housed within the building. Old Parliament House, preserved after public opposition prevented its demolition, now operates as a museum of parliament.