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RIAS Scottish Awards for Architecture

The Royal Incorporation of Architects in Scotland

22 Mar 2002

Scottish Awards for Architecture

The Royal Incorporation of Architects in Scotland launched the UK’s biggest architecture prize on 22 March 2002.

Its objective was clear. Find and nominate the best building in Scotland. The architects of the winning building will receive £25,000, making this one of the most significant architecture awards in the world.

A high-profile jury has chosen the RIAS Scottish Awards

shortlist from a selection of over 50 buildings across Scotland, fourteen of which were visited. The judges looked for building projects which showed innovation, design excellence and competence irrespective of size or type.

Collectively, the judges agreed that: “… the task of selecting only five buildings from the shortlist was difficult because of the exceptionally high standard of the entries – a fact that augurs well for the state of Scottish architecture”

RIAS Award for Architecture

Judges for the RIAS Award for Architecture 2002:
Andrew Doolan – Principal, Andrew Doolan Architects. Architect
Benedetta Tagliabue – Principal EMBT, Barcelona (Enric Miralles).
Gordon Davies – President, The Royal Incorporation of Architects in Scotland
Professor Andy MacMillan – Mackintosh School of Architecture, Glasgow

Best Building in Scotland

RIAS Scottish Awards Shortlist
Stirling Tolbooth
Architect: Richard Murphy Architects
Client: Stirling Council
Completed: Jan 2001
Project cost: £4.2m
In 1997 Stirling Council held an invited competition to renovate the Old Tolbooth as a music focused arts venue, opening the building up to the local community and the wider public for performance and participation.

Summary of judges’ comments:
The design approach is innovative and exuberant. The materials and detailing are consistent throughout, well chosen and well designed. The rear elevation to the court is splendid and the stair, the building’s main feature, is clever and consistently detailed.

Dance Base, Edinburgh
Architect: Malcolm Fraser Architects
Client: Dance Base
Completed: Jun 2001
Project cost: £5m
4 dance studios on a dog-legged site employing a combination of use of existing buildings, new build and the natural landscape. The project was funded by the Scottish Arts Council Lottery, Edinburgh World Heritage Trust and City of Edinburgh Council.

Summary of judges’ comments:
The internal concrete structure and the introduction of natural light was innovative and created an inspirational environment. A most enjoyable and clever sequence of well-conceived spaces and circulation. Simple, direct, good architecture, memorable rooms and immaculate contemporary details. A clever solution to a difficult site.

Mount Stuart Visitor’s Centre
Architect: Munkenbeck + Marshall Architects
Client: Mount Stuart Trust Ltd
Completed: Jun 2001
Project cost: £1m
The brief for this project was to create a modern, original visitor centre in its own right, distinct from the existing Mount Stuart House – to excite visitors as well as accommodate them.

Summary of judges’ comments:
An extremely elegant and essentially simple solution to the requirements of a visitor centre. Building and display are harmoniously integrated. Good landscaping and a good relationship with existing timber buildings. Beautifully detailed, delicately sited and consistently cool.

Graham Square, New Build 3, Glasgow
Architect: McKeown Alexander Architects
Client: The Molendinar Park Housing Association
Completed: Oct 2000
Project cost: £1.6m
New Build 3 was a winning entry for a Scottish Homes Pilot Hag competition for a site, 2 km east of Glasgow cross, formerly the site of Glasgow’s abattoir and meat market.

Summary of judges’ comments:
A great advert for well-designed, low-cost living. Extremely well conceived, innovative housing for the independent sector, well-designed and detailed, with thoughtful retention of the existing meat market façade. The projects acts as an exemplar – that imaginatively designed housing can be life enhancing for all who live in it.

The New Byre Theatre, St Andrews
Architect: Nicoll Russell Studios
Client: The Byre Theatre of St. Andrews Ltd
Completed: May 2001
Project cost: £3.77m
The competition brief in 1995 demanded the creation of “The Best Small Theatre in Scotland”. Increase in audience capacity, vast improvements in technical and production capabilities were sought while retaining an intimacy for which the performance space of the ‘old’ Byre were well known.

Summary of judges’ comments:
A very comfortable building on a demanding site. The interlinking and interpretations of space provides coherence to the concept. A strong presence and an enhancement of a well used facility. An alternative rethinking of the Old Byre Theatre, cleverly inserted in the town fabric.

Royal Incorporation of Architects in Scotland – Scottish Awards: PR

RIAS Scottish Awards

Location: Scotland