Temporary U.K. Parliament

A proposed restoration of the Palaces of Westminster would require total decantation of the building for an estimated six years. In response, Gensler created a proposal for a modular structure located on the River Thames that could accommodate all the principle components of the current Houses of Parliament alongside the existing Member’s Terrace. Gensler’s design creates a temporary Parliament in the same world-famous location and avoids the dispersion of core parliamentary activity to multiple locations while saving the British taxpayer more than £1.8 billion. The 250-metre-long, high-tech wooden-framed structure would be built on steel platforms and could be completed in less than three years in shipyards across the UK before being floated along the Thames. The concept not only provides a fitting short-term solution to the relocation issue, it also provides some exciting long-term opportunities.