July 1 2008

The two buildings in Scotland that have won RIBA National Awards were presented with their trophies at an award ceremony at London's Hilton Hotel on Friday night.

The BBC Scotland HQ at Pacific Quay, Glasgow by David Chipperfield Architects Ltd, and the Pier Arts Centre, Stromness, Orkney by Reiach and Hall Architects join 14 other buildings across the UK in receiving an RIBA National Award, along with 10 RIBA European Award winners. The Stirling Prize shortlist will be drawn from the 16 RIBA National Award winners, and the RIBA European Award winners which are eligible for the prize. The shortlist will be announced on Thursday 17 July.

The architecture of the new BBC Scotland building was described by the judges as having “seamlessly resolved technical, production, office-based and social functions within a singularly awe-inspiring building”. The “extraordinary sensitivity” of the Pier Arts Centre has been achieved by extending the original Arts Centre through adding a new zinc and glass building which can be viewed from across the harbour.

Speaking at the awards dinner RIBA President Sunand Prasad said:

“RIBA awards are only made to buildings that really work for their users. They are a studied response by architect and lay judges not only to the submitted material but most importantly to tours of buildings conducted by the clients and architects of the schemes. It is the thoroughness and rigour of the whole process that makes any tier of the RIBA awards scheme so worth winning.”

Arnie Dunn, President of the Royal Incorporation of Architects in Scotland, the RIBA’s sister institute, commented: “We have argued for a number of years now that Scotland’s architecture is of a quality that can compete with the best in Europe. The fact that two such distinctly different buildings at either end of the country have gained this recognition confirms that. The architects should be congratulated.”

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