Parliament House Islamabad: Pakistan’s Seat of Democracy
The complete guide to Aiwan-e-Parleman on Constitution Avenue — its history, architecture, the two chambers it houses, and the records it holds.
Last updated: 11 October 2026
Parliament House Islamabad (Aiwan-e-Parleman) is the seat of the Parliament of Pakistan — the country’s supreme legislative body. Located in the Red Zone on Constitution Avenue, it was inaugurated on 28 May 1986 by President Zia-ul-Haq and designed by American architect Edward Durell Stone. The five-storey building covers 598,000 square feet and houses both chambers: the National Assembly (336 members) in the west wing and the Senate (96 members) in the east wing. In 2015 it became the first parliament in the world to run fully on solar power, and in 2018 the Senate Museum opened inside the building.
Year inaugurated
Square feet of floor area
Storeys
Houses of parliament
1970s – 1986
History: from blueprint to inauguration
For nearly four decades after independence, Pakistan’s legislature met in borrowed halls. The permanent home on Constitution Avenue took shape slowly — and opened with a ceremony on 28 May 1986.
When Islamabad was laid out as the new capital in the 1960s, the city’s master plan reserved a commanding site on Constitution Avenue for the federal legislature. The design commission went to Edward Durell Stone, the American architect already known for major civic buildings, who produced a modernist design threaded with Islamic and Mughal motifs.
Construction moved in fits and starts through the 1970s and early 1980s, spanning changes of government and the turbulence of the Zia years. The building was finally completed and inaugurated on 28 May 1986 by President General Zia-ul-Haq, becoming the permanent seat of Pakistan’s bicameral Parliament. Before that date, sessions had been held in temporary venues — including Ayub Hall in Rawalpindi and the old assembly hall in Islamabad — while the legislature waited for a home of its own.
Since 1986 the building has hosted every joint sitting, budget speech and vote of confidence of the democratic era, from the restoration of democracy in 1988 to the 2024 general election that seated the current 16th National Assembly.
| Milestone | Detail |
|---|---|
| Design commissioned | Edward Durell Stone, during Islamabad’s master-planning era |
| Construction | 1970s – mid-1980s |
| Inauguration | 28 May 1986, by President Zia-ul-Haq |
| Solar conversion | 2015 – first parliament in the world on full solar power |
| Senate Museum opens | January 2018, inside Parliament House |
Design
Architecture and design
Stone’s building is modernist in structure and unmistakably Pakistani in detail — five storeys organised around the two great debating chambers.
The building spreads over 598,000 square feet across five floors, its long horizontal lines broken by geometric screens, arches and courtyards that echo Mughal architecture without copying it. Reflecting pools and landscaped terraces sit the structure into the Margalla-facing slope of the Red Zone.
Inside, the plan is strictly functional: the National Assembly chamber occupies the west wing and the Senate chamber the east wing, each with public galleries, press galleries, committee rooms and members’ lobbies arranged around it. Between them sit the offices of the Speaker, the Chairman Senate, and the parliamentary secretariats.
Security defines the building’s setting as much as its stonework. It stands inside Islamabad’s Red Zone, the high-security district that also holds the Presidency (Aiwan-e-Sadr), the Prime Minister’s Office and the Supreme Court — a concentration of state power unique to the capital’s original plan.
Bicameral parliament
The two chambers under one roof
One building, two very different houses — the directly elected National Assembly and the indirectly elected Senate.
National Assembly
The lower house has 336 seats: 266 directly elected general seats, 60 reserved for women and 10 for minorities. It alone can pass the federal budget and move a vote of no-confidence against the prime minister. The Speaker presides over its sittings.
Senate
The upper house has 96 senators — 23 from each province and 4 from Islamabad — elected indirectly by the provincial assemblies for staggered six-year terms. The Senate cannot be dissolved and gives the smaller provinces an equal voice. The Chairman Senate presides.
Joint sittings of the two houses — for presidential addresses and certain legislation — are held in the larger National Assembly chamber, with senators seated alongside MNAs. The building also hosts the Public Accounts Committee and the standing committees that do the detailed work of legislation.
World record
The world’s first solar-powered parliament
In 2015 Parliament House switched its entire electricity load to the sun — a first for any national legislature.
The 1-megawatt solar plant was installed with Chinese financial assistance and jointly inaugurated in April 2015 by Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and Chinese President Xi Jinping, during Xi’s state visit to Pakistan. National Assembly Speaker Sardar Ayaz Sadiq and Senate Chairman Raza Rabbani attended the ceremony.
The plant generates enough electricity to run both houses, with surplus power exported to the Islamabad Electric Supply Company (IESCO) grid — Parliament House became the first public building in Pakistan to receive a net-metering licence from NEPRA. At the inauguration it was announced as the first parliament in the world to shift completely to solar power; Israel’s Knesset, by comparison, then met only about a tenth of its needs from solar.
Visit
Senate Museum and visiting
Since 2018 the building has housed a museum of parliamentary history — and limited public access is possible with prior arrangement.
The Senate Museum, inaugurated in January 2018, displays documents, photographs and artefacts tracing Pakistan’s constitutional and parliamentary journey from 1947 to the present. It is one of the few museum spaces inside a working legislature in South Asia.
Can the public visit? Parliament House sits in the high-security Red Zone, so walk-in tourism is not possible. Visitors — including student groups and foreign delegations — can attend with prior permission and a security pass, usually arranged through a member of parliament or the Senate/NA secretariats (senate.gov.pk and na.gov.pk). Public and press galleries allow observers to watch live sittings when the houses are in session.
At a glance
Parliament House at a glance
The essential numbers and names, in one table.
| Fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Official name (Urdu) | Aiwan-e-Parleman (ایوانِ پارلیمان) |
| Location | Red Zone, Constitution Avenue, Islamabad (33.7301° N, 73.0969° E) |
| Architect | Edward Durell Stone (USA) |
| Inaugurated | 28 May 1986, by President Zia-ul-Haq |
| Floor area | 598,000 sq ft, five storeys |
| National Assembly | 336 members — west wing chamber |
| Senate | 96 members — east wing chamber |
| Solar plant | 1 MW, inaugurated April 2015 — world’s first fully solar parliament |
| Senate Museum | Opened January 2018 |
| Official sites | na.gov.pk (National Assembly) · senate.gov.pk (Senate) |
Questions, answered
Frequently asked questions
Straight answers to the questions readers ask most.
Where is Parliament House Islamabad located?
Parliament House stands in the Red Zone on Constitution Avenue, Islamabad, the capital’s high-security district that also houses the Presidency, the Prime Minister’s Office and the Supreme Court. Its coordinates are approximately 33.7301° N, 73.0969° E.
Who designed Parliament House Islamabad?
The building was designed by American architect Edward Durell Stone, commissioned during Islamabad’s master-planning era. His design blends modernist structure with Islamic and Mughal-inspired detailing.
When was Parliament House Islamabad built?
Construction ran through the 1970s and early 1980s, and the building was inaugurated on 28 May 1986 by President General Zia-ul-Haq. It has been the permanent seat of Pakistan’s Parliament ever since.
How many members sit in Pakistan’s Parliament?
The National Assembly has 336 members (266 general, 60 women’s reserved, 10 minority seats) and the Senate has 96 senators (23 per province plus 4 from Islamabad) — 432 parliamentarians in total.
Is Parliament House Islamabad open to the public?
Not for walk-in visits: it sits in the high-security Red Zone. Members of the public can visit with prior permission and a security pass, usually arranged through an MNA or senator, and can observe sittings from the public galleries.
Why is Parliament House famous for solar power?
In April 2015 a 1-megawatt solar plant — built with Chinese assistance and inaugurated by PM Nawaz Sharif and President Xi Jinping — took over the building’s entire electricity load, making it the first parliament in the world to run fully on solar energy, with surplus power exported to the IESCO grid under a NEPRA net-metering licence.
More on Pakistan’s government & politics
Parliament House is one building in a larger story — the constitution, the ministries and the institutions that run the country.
Feature Pakistan’s editorial desk compiles this guide from parliamentary records, the Senate and National Assembly secretariats, and contemporary reporting. Facts verified October 2026.