Design Award for Holyrood

Design Award for Holyrood
The Scottish Parliament building looks set to outlive the controversy that accompanied its creation.

It was delivered three years late, went 11 times over budget, and sparked a major independent inquiry, yet - if the praise it has received from some of the world's top architects is to be believed - it may all have been worthwhile.

Holyrood this weekend won its eighth major architectural prize this year and one so prestigious that it could help loosen the damaging associations between the building and its past troubles.

The Royal Institute of British Architects' Stirling prize is considered to be architecture's version of an Oscar.

Holyrood won it easily.

It beat off some worthy competitors, including the BMW plant created by Zaha Hadid, one of the world's most successful architects, and the headquarters for the McLaren racing team in Woking created by Norman Foster, another leading light in the profession.

The Stirling prize judges described Holyrood as "sparkling", "extremely successful", "extraordinary", and "striking".

Such compliments make a refreshing change from adjectives - most usually troubled or controversial - that usually accompany any mention of the building.

Predictably, however, the announcement that it had won was not a cause for pride among media commentators.

Instead, it was