Bill Armstrong, the former project manager at the Scottish Office who resigned in December, claimed last week that the cost of the 21 000 m2 complex at Holyrood had risen £20m and was two months late.
Speaking from Barcelona, Miralles rejected Armstrong's claim that the cost of the project had reached £70m. He said: "The price we are working to is £50m. That is a base build figure and that is what has always been said. " Miralles also denied that the project schedule had slipped, saying: "Time has been very tight since the beginning." He said he is confident that the building can be finished by autumn 2001, in time for the first parliamentary meetings. "We have no other choice," he said.
Miralles sees Bovis' appointment as construction manager as key to keeping the project on track. He said: "Bovis is looking at different construction programmes and its input is very positive. The Bovis team is confident that it can deliver the project on time after doing a good job at the Museum of Scotland." In response to the budget and time claims, a Scottish Office spokesperson said: "There are other start-up costs associated with the new parliament, including the development of the Assembly Hall as a temporary home. However, we are still very much on course to deliver the parliament building for £50m, plus VAT, plus fees." He added: "We are working to the same schedule as before. Miralles is working on the final stage D designs, which we will unveil in the next couple of months. Then there will be a lot of work to be done on costing a building with very complex requirements." He said the project will have started on site by this summer .
Former project manager Armstrong also claimed that Miralles' stage C proposals for the parliament, unveiled in October, had not stood up to detailed design.
Miralles said his team is sharpening up the designs before the stage D submission at the end of February. He said: "Time is so short that every week is important now. The process is quite controlled. It would make no sense to go changing the design now. We are keeping things as close as possible to the competition submission." Miralles also rejected claims that he had designed out space for meeting rooms: "That is stupid. An institution like a parliament has very particular working practices and requirements. If you specified 20 meeting rooms in the brief, why would you let the architect design only 17?" Commenting on Armstrong's resignation, Miralles said: "It is logical that someone, somewhere along the line in a large and complex project, decides to get out.
"Bill Armstrong did not tell me of any grievance. There was no direct dialogue between us. He has been quite distant from the energy we have all been putting into the process." He added: "Sometimes, it is nice to be in Barcelona. This kind of thing affects you less." Armstrong has been replaced as project manager by Martin Mustard.
