Excellent eleven head up RIAS Awards 2025
May 23 2025
Eleven winners of the RIAS Awards 2025 have been revealed, representing a cross-section of the best new buildings to rise from across the country irrespective of budget or use.
This year's jury, chaired by Jessam Al-Jawad, director of Al-Jawad Pike, made their selection based on each project's architectural integrity, usability and context, delivery and execution, and sustainability.
The winners are:
- Aldourie Castle, Loch Ness by Ptolemy Dean Architects (photography Simon Kennedy)
- Caoghan na Creige, Isle of Harris by Izat Arundell (photography Richard Gaston)
- Ellengowan Regeneration, Dundee by Collective Architecture (photography Keith Hunter)
- Fairburn Tower, Muir of Ord, Highland by Simpson & Brown Architects (photography Landmark Trust)
- Gairnshiel Jubilee Bridge, Gairnshiel, Aberdeenshire by Moxon Architects (photography Ben Addy)
- HM Prison and Young Offender Institution Stirling by Holmes Miller Architects (photography Chris Humphries)
- Kinloch Lodge, Lairg by GRAS
- The Nucleus Building, University of Edinburgh by Sheppard Robson (photography Keith Hunter)
- Riverside Primary School, Perth by Architype (photography David Barbour)
- Rosebank Distillery, Falkirk by MLA (photography Ross Campbell)
- Union Terrace Gardens, Aberdeen by Stallan-Brand Architecture + Design (photography Christopher Swan)
Al-Jawad commented: “This year’s RIAS Awards winners show an inspiring range of responses to Scotland’s landscapes, communities, and heritage — from quietly transformative conservation to bold public architecture. Across the board, we saw a deep care for context, sustainability and the people who use these buildings. Taken together, these projects demonstrate the extraordinary breadth of talent in Scottish architecture today.”
Each winner will automatically enter the ‘longlist’ for the RIAS Andrew Doolan Best Building in Scotland Award which will be announced in November.
Main image: Kinloch Lodge, photograph by Fran Mart for Wildland
Aldourie Castle: The judges admired how the project has restored the spirit of the place and reconnected the disparate buildings to their romantic setting, blending sensitivity and wit where the past speaks to the present and the past
Caoghan na Creig: The judges described the project as a testament to what can be achieved through patience, skill and a profound respect for place: a richly personal and beautifully crafted work that shows the strength of emerging voices
Ellengowan: The judges praised the project’s inclusive and contextual approach – one that balances modern needs and community aspirations with heritage preservation, to foster a vibrant and sustainable neighbourhood
Gairnshiel Bridge: The judges described the project as a fine example of how to integrate a modern vehicular bridge into a sensitive landscape, one that hopes to inspire other bridge and infrastructure schemes
HMP Stirling: The judges praised this as a landmark project for Scottish architecture – a model of how public buildings can be both operationally robust and deeply humane
Kinloch Lodge: The judges noted how the architects’ philosophical approach is rarely practised and is a tribute to their experience and humility
Riverside Primary: The judges described this as an exemplary school project, which will serve as an inspiring model for the design of schools in Scotland and across the UK
Rosebank: The jury was impressed by the depth of engagement and ambition shown by the design team, who navigated complex constraints including contamination, conservation, coal mining risk and listed structures
The judges described Fairburn Tower as an exemplar project, where restoration and reconstruction are beautifully accomplished, while also delivering characterful holiday accommodation. The project showcases how to provide an innovative design
The judges described the Nucleus Building as a deftly executed piece of civic architecture – a considered, enduring and generous response to a multifaceted brief that sets a powerful precedent for the future of university design in Scotland
UTG: The judges praised the project as a benchmark in public-realm regeneration, demonstrating the power of sensitive, people-centred design to transform a city’s sense of place
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6 Comments
#1 Posted by Maggie on 23 May 2025 at 11:26 AM
Prizes for the wealthy in the highlands and the prison population...
#2 Posted by philip on 23 May 2025 at 17:44 PM
Some lovely projects....pity about the tiresome gobshittery...
#3 Posted by Crispin Bennett on 24 May 2025 at 08:01 AM
The nomination of HMP Stirling is laughable. The prison has been built with absolutely no consideration of anything outside the prison perimeter. Vulnerable prisoners are immediately adjacent to local housing, with children unable to play in their gardens. The architecture shows complete ignorance of the local environment: a criminal act bringing the dignity and self-respect of RIAS to a collapse.
#4 Posted by Lovely on 25 May 2025 at 08:31 AM
There’s some really cute projects here it has to be said and some very nice work.
However, it does seem to be that everything has a sort of aristocratic or hobbyist lilt to it which is a bit sad.
Except for the prison of course which looks like a primary school for some reason and fair play to the comment above.
Nothing here very radical and certainly nothing getting close to solving the major problems that we face in Scotland today in terms of architecture and urban design.
However, it does seem to be that everything has a sort of aristocratic or hobbyist lilt to it which is a bit sad.
Except for the prison of course which looks like a primary school for some reason and fair play to the comment above.
Nothing here very radical and certainly nothing getting close to solving the major problems that we face in Scotland today in terms of architecture and urban design.
#5 Posted by Ben Hur on 25 May 2025 at 10:54 AM
Elitist tiresome gobshittery talking to themselves awarding themselves elitist tiresome gobshittery awards. Yes, that about sums it all up, Same as it ever was. God, the class system runs deep here. An irrelevance.
#6 Posted by Mark on 25 May 2025 at 20:21 PM
It's a very curious list: I can't ever remember three castles/ stately homes/ huntin' shootin' fishin' lodges being on the awards list together. Against only one social housing project, one school and one piece of infrastructure. The RIAS is being totally tone deaf I'm afraid, despite the judges' "irrespective of use" cop-out. Poor show, this doesn't look like my country at all.
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