Scottish parliamentary staff and SMPs have started moving into their new offices at Holyrood in Edinburgh ahead of the official opening of the new Kemnay granite buildings in October.

The national press have tended to concentrate on the overrun of the cost of the building - at £431million it is 10 times the original estimate - and its problems - like flooding in recent heavy rain. Not everyone has approved of architect Enric Miralles\' design, either.

For Fyfe Glenrock, Scotland\'s first Parliament for 300 years was worth approximately £3.5million worth of stone orders.

In April 2002, work packages for the supply of 6,000m2 of external cladding to the MSP Office Building and the Assembly Building were awarded to Fyfe Glenrock after the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body had selected Kemnay silver-grey granite from Kemnay Quarry, Aberdeenshire, for this major element of the project.

Kemnay Quarry, which had lain dormant for five years, was immediately re-opened and during the following two years 140,000 tonnes of granite has been extracted. Sound material has been carefully selected and a total 1,160 granite blocks weighing 6,000 tonnes have been converted into 9,000m2 of finished stonework.

Selection of the primary slab required that strict criteria, in terms of the specified colour variation and finished unit sizes, were adhered to.

The Kemnay paving within the Assembly Building has a honed finish and is laid in a modular pattern. The stair treads to the grand and public stairways have narrow black Caithness stone strip inserts to provide a contrasting sightline. Raised corduroy strips provide guidance at the leading edge of the landings for visually impaired persons.

Scottish Whinstone, sourced from Caldercruix Quarry, Airdrie, has been used for the kerbing, channels and trims - 1,600 linear metres of it. There are also 4,600m2 of Portuguese silver and dark grey granite setts in the public areas and roadways in a selection of finishes.

Raised blister tactile paving has been produced in Kemnay granite and laid to delineate pedestrian crossing areas.

Caption) Scottish Parliament civil servants started moving in to the new Scottish Parliament at Holyrood this month (September) although building work continues.