RIAS unveils shortlist for Scotland's best building 2025

A bridge lined with local granite and the restoration of a remote tower in the Scottish Highlands are among the four buildings shortlisted for RIAS' 2025 Andrew Doolan Best Building in Scotland award.

Also on the shortlist is a public space regeneration project in Aberdeen and a teaching hub for the University of Edinburgh.

Held annually by the Royal Incorporation of Architects in Scotland (RIAS), the Andrew Doolan Best Building in Scotland award was launched in 2002 and named in memory of Scottish architect Andy Doolan.

According to the award jury, this year's shortlisted projects celebrate the ways the architecture industry works alongside other built environment disciplines, such as urban design and infrastructure.

"This year's rigorous selection process has produced a diverse shortlist of intelligent schemes that not only demonstrate architectural excellence but also engage directly with the shifting political and behavioural circumstances that shape our public life," said jury chair Mary Duggan.

"They reveal how architecture can reinforce, respond to, and even anticipate these changes."

Edinburgh-based studio Simpson and Brown's restoration of Fairburn Tower in the Highlands is one of the shortlisted projects this year.

Having fallen into disrepair, the studio transformed the remote 16th-century tower into a holiday rental for the Landmark Trust charity.

Also shortlisted is the Union Terrace Gardens public realm regeneration project in Aberdeen, where Glasgow-based architecture studio Stallan Brand and London-based landscape architecture studio LDA Design added three pavilion-like buildings containing a cafe, restaurant and wine bar.

The studios also enhanced the park's green spaces and restored its statues, railings, arcade arches and underground Victorian toilets.

The third shortlisted project is Gairnshiel Jubilee Bridge in Aberdeenshire by local studio Moxon Architects. The studio was shortlisted in last year's awards for its renovation of 19th-century farm buildings into a guesthouse and private artist's studio.

Made from weathering steel and recycled, locally sourced granite, Gairnshiel Jubilee Bridge was built to draw vehicle traffic away from a Category A-listed bridge further upstream.

The final project on the shortlist is the Nucleus Building at the University of Edinburgh, which was designed by British architecture studio Sheppard Robson as an educational hub for staff and students to teach, study and socialise.

Alongside Duggan, founder of Mary Duggan Architects, this year's jury consisted of design consultant Gordon Murray and Architects' Journal news editor Richard Waite.

Last year, the Andrew Doolan Best Building in Scotland award was won by British studio John McAslan + Partners for its renovation of the Burrell Collection museum in Glasgow.

In 2023, a remote house named Cuddymoss by architecture practice Ann Nisbet Studio became the first one-off residence to ever win the award.

The post RIAS unveils shortlist for Scotland's best building 2025 appeared first on Dezeen.