infrastructure at the new Welsh Assembly building that aims to make democracy more

accessible.

The 5,000 square-metre debating chamber, which will be occupied in less than a year, is

intended to encourage public participation in the democratic process. Representatives will

move into the £41 million pound custom-built structure when they vacate their current

debating chamber, committee rooms and public areas in the adjoining Crickhowell House.

The hub of the waterfront building is the circular debating chamber on the ground floor,

which has an under-floor plenum area that distributes services around the building from

plant rooms on the same level.

Unusually deep at 1.2 metres, the sub-floor plenum has to accommodate not only ducts

for the building's natural ventilation and heating services, but also its complex information

technology and communications infrastructure.

Each of the Assembly's 60 members will have access to a computer screen, a

microphone and a voting system at their desk in the chamber. Most of these services, plus

feeds for electrical power and television cameras, are to be delivered from under the floor.

The new building's computer network extends beyond the debating chamber to the

committee rooms, offices and areas where the public has access to information terminals.

It is connected to the network in the existing Assembly building through hubs and a fibre

optic link. Crickhowell House will continue to provide offices for Assembly members,

support staff and officials.

Audiovisual services are also spread throughout the new building, including feeds for

broadcasters and to the TV monitors that relay debates around the public areas.

Carl Brambarni of Cablofil says the complexity of the IT and communications

infrastructure in the Welsh Assembly building is quite typical: "Government buildings tend

to be big IT jobs, Cablofil is ideal in that it has been uniquely tested and proven to be

suitable as a containment system for Cat6 Cabling."

The Assembly building has a design life of 100 years and, says MJN Colston, the

specification is very high. The entire structure has excellent environmental credentials, and

has been designed to use 30 to 50 per cent less energy than an equivalent conventional

building.

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