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A house that incorporates a ruin and a home clad in crushed TVs are among the four buildings on this year’s shortlist for RIAS‘ Andrew Doolan Best Building in Scotland award.
Two university buildings – Campus Central at the University of Stirling and Laidlaw Music Centre at the University of St Andrews – are also vying for the title of Scotland’s best building for 2023.
Launched in 2002, the RIAS Andrew Doolan Best Building in Scotland award is held annually by the Royal Incorporation of Architects in Scotland (RIAS).
It aims to “showcase the exceptional talent of architects working in Scotland today” by finding the best new building in the country.
One of the two houses shortlisted for the 2023 edition is Hundred Acre Wood, a large grey house designed by London-based studio Denizen Works overlooking Loch Awe in Argyll.
One of its most striking features is its exterior, which is finished with recycled and crushed TV screens to offer a low-maintenance, pebbledash-like finish.
The other house on the list is located in rural Ayrshire. Named Cuddymoss, it incorporates a stone ruin.
Architect Ann Nisbet Studio complemented this existing structure with a timber-clad extension that echoes its form and is hoped to blend in with the site as it greys over time.
Campus Central by the studio Page\Park is one of the two university buildings on the list. Located at the University of Stirling, it marries a new build with a revamped 1970s building, aiming to improve circulation at the campus and provide a welcoming entrance area.
The final building on the 2023 shortlist is Laidlaw Music Centre, which architecture studio Flanagan Lawrence created at the University of St Andrews. It contains a series of rehearsal spaces for professional and student musicians, as well as the local community.
Among its standout elements is the recital hall, which is the first of its kind to feature a fully mechanised floor and a reverberation chamber to enhance acoustics.
Chair of the jury for 2023 and RSHP senior partner Tracy Meller described selecting the shortlist as a “tough job”.
“Whether unlocking a tricky urban challenge or doing justice to a remarkable rural setting, each has a superb relationship with its context,” she explained. “Their clients’ briefs could not be more different, and yet each building demonstrates exceptional imagination, skill and flair.”
Each year, the shortlist is drawn from the winners of the 2023 RIAS Awards, which were announced in June. The winner will be announced on 30 November and receive a £10,000 cash prize.
Alongside chair Meller, this year’s jury consisted of RIAS president Chris Stewart and architecture editor at Wallpaper* Ellie Stathaki.
Last year’s winner was a small office and cafe by Moxon Architects, hidden within the Cairngorms National Park.
In the lead-up to the announcement, we published a series of videos by photographer Jim Stephenson documenting the shortlist, which included a sawmill visitor centre and the renovation of the modernist High Sunderland house.
The main photo of Hundred Acre Wood is by Gilbert McCarragher.
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