PagePark Architects have picked up the richest architecture prize in the UK for The Saunders Centre, Glasgow.
The architect firm scooped the RIAS Andrew Doolan Best Building in Scotland Award for 2016 having been chosen from a shortlist of 11 projects. The judges chose the Saunders Centre as a clear winner of all the candidates.
The award was presented at a ceremony held at the National Museum of Scotland, which won the award in 2011.
It was presented by Fiona Hyslop MSP, the Cabinet Secretary for Culture, Tourism and External Affairs, along with Margaret Doolan Hon FRIAS.
This year’s RIAS Andrew Doolan Best Building in Scotland Award winner received a gold medal cast by internationally renowned Scottish Goldsmith, James Brent Ward and a cheque for £25,000.
This means it is the richest architectural prize in the UK and one of Europe’s most significant architecture awards.
The award is generously supported by the Scottish Government and the late Andrew Doolan’s family.
Hyslop, Cabinet Secretary for Culture, Tourism and External Affairs, commented: “Every year, through the shortlist for the Andrew Doolan Award, we see a display of the many benefits that great architecture can bring and we show the quality of Scottish design to the world.
“During the Year of Innovation, Architecture and Design 2016, we have been celebrating the best of Scotland’s architecture, both old and new. This year’s Festival of Architecture, organised by the RIAS and its partners, continues to be a fantastic success and tonight’s winner is a welcome addition to the hall of fame of great Scottish architecture.”
The judges for this year’s award were: Eleanor McAllister OBE Hon FRIAS, Iain Dickson PPRIAS and David Dunbar PPRIAS (Chair).
The full judges’ citation for the winning project reads: “This splendid new addition to Glasgow Academy’s campus is an elegant and subtle addition to the streetscape. The reinforced concrete structural frame is clad in a pattern of precast polished and honed finishes. This modular assembly rises from the podium for the raised ground floor, through a sequence of bay windows to a reinterpretation of the Glasgow dormer at roof level.”
