June 1 2023

The Royal Incorporation of Architects in Scotland has named seven buildings from Ayrshire to Skye as 2023 RIAS Award winners.

The professional body has bestowed its top honour on diverse projects ranging from private houses to university buildings and a golf headquarters, chosen for a combination of factors including architectural integrity, usability and context, delivery and execution, and sustainability.

RIAS chief executive Tamsie Thomson said: “From simple yet elegant new homes that respond to varied Scottish landscapes, to complex higher education and corporate buildings created for some of Scotland’s world-leading institutions, the winners of the 2023 RIAS Awards demonstrate that architecture in Scotland continues to have the power to delight and inspire."

The seven winners include Campus Central, a student support facility for the University of Stirling by Page\Park and Cuddymoss in North Ayrshire, a new home by Ann Nisbet Studio.

They are joined by Half of Eleven, a self-build house on the Isle of Skye by Dualchas Architects and Hundred Acre Wood, a dramatic Argyll and Bute home created by Denizen Works.

Rounding off the class of 2023 is the Laidlaw Music Centre for the University of St Andrews by Flanagan Lawrence and Papple Steading, East Lothian, by cameronwebster architects with Ian Parsons Architect. Pilmour House, a new 'Home of Golf', in St Andrews by Nicoll Russell Studios completes the set.

Jury chair Sarah Castle, co-founding director of IF_DO, added: “From homes to community centres and educational institutions, the projects we visited showcase architecture of the highest calibre - beautifully conceived, carefully detailed, sustainable, and innovative. They demonstrate the way in which Scottish architects are responding to the challenges of our time, from the climate crisis to loneliness and social isolation.

“At their best, these are projects which couldn’t be anywhere else in the world. They draw on the rich history of Scottish architecture and playfully respond to their context - to the historic cities and diverse landscapes of dramatic mountains, glens, and forests. They contain the essence of what makes architecture in Scotland so special.”

Each winning project is automatically entered into the longlist for the RIAS Andrew Doolan Best Building in Scotland Award.

3 Comments

#1 Posted by Nairn's Bairn on 1 Jun 2023 at 12:37 PM

From the sublime to the gorblimey.

That Page/Park Stirling campus is great - interesting and unusual yet still appealing.

I think we've been here before with the Dualchas one.

At the bottom of the barrel that 'Hundred Acre Wood' is a real brute, a 650 square metre concrete second home in Dalmally. a real punch in the face.

On a more sustainable front the Cameron Webster steading looks very sympathetic, and nice to see re-use of an existing building..

#2 Posted by Showbiz Sam on 1 Jun 2023 at 21:00 PM

Most people think that Architects are elitist, posh and exclusive - and they'd be right, by looking at this selection.

#3 Posted by Darren on 4 Jun 2023 at 09:38 AM

I don't understand where this trope of the architect being posh and elitist.i keep seeing people conflate a good job with being elitist. And given that most architects come from a working or middle class background, simply because there are not enough posh people to fill all of those architectural design roles, it seems baffling to me how anyone can state that with a straight face. It's almost as if they've not done any looking into the actual figures and instead are just repeat tropes that went out of date in the 1900s. Also one of the houses is a small and modest ouse and the other is a literal modest cottage restoration.

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