Parliament House (Antilla)

Parliament House is a neoclassical palace in Christiansby which was completed in 1887. Originally named Colonial House and serving as the headquarters of the British colonial administration, the palace was renamed and repurposed in 1948 to house both chambers of the newly established Parliament of Antilla. Perfectly symmetrical along both the north-south and east-west axes, Parliament House is a mere 65 metres in width from east to west, while extending nearly 300 metres from north to south.

The palace features two main entrances: the eastern entrance opens onto Colonial Boulevard, while the identical western entrance opens onto Parliament Square, a public plaza centred on a large sculptured fountain complex and surrounded by a tropical garden. Parliament House's main entrances open onto a single rotunda which serves as an anteroom to the central auditorium, the largest of the three palace's three auditoriums. The two smaller auditoriums are situated in the north wing and south wing, respectively. A large hall connects the north and south wings to the central rotunda: the northern hall opens onto a large ballroom on its western side and a two-story library with a vaulted ceiling on its eastern side, while the southern hall opens onto a large banquet hall on its western side and a series of service rooms on its eastern side, including a professional kitchen, a ladies' room and men's room, a small study, a laundry room and linen room, a large cloakroom, a storage room and a utility room.

The auditorium in the northern wing hosts Senate sessions, while the matching south wing auditorium hosts sessions of the House of Commons. The central auditorium is used to host both chambers together in a joint parliamentary session, which are infrequent enough that the central auditorium is used to host several other large events, including political meetings, diplomatic conventions, professional conferences, live performances and presidential inaugurations.

While Parliament House features two above-ground 15-foot stories, the three auditoriums, the central rotunda and the halls connecting to the north and south wings all feature vaulted ceilings, as do the library and ballroom on either side of the north hall and the banquet hall on the western side of the south hall; as such, the only actual two-story part of the palace is the area to the east of the south hall, which consists of four private chambers above the kitchen, restrooms, study, laundry, etc. The palace does have a basement level under the north and south halls and their adjacent rooms, however the three auditoriums are set somewhat below ground level, with the floors surrounding their centre stages accessible via several 15-step carpeted stairs. The basement under the north hall is still used for various purposes, while the basement under the south hall was converted into an underground parking garage in 1998.