Stirling Society of Architects Awards, Scottish Building Prize, SSA News

SSA Design Awards : Stirling Society of Architects

SSA Winner, central Scotland

14 Oct 2011

Stirling Society of Architects Awards 2011 Winner

RIAS Stirling Society of Architects 2011 Design Award – Winner

The RIAS Stirling Society of Architects has announced the winner of its 2011 Design Award. At a busy ceremony held in Gean House, Alloa, President of the Royal Incorporation of Architects in Scotland, Sholto Humphreys presented Falkirk based practice ARKA Architects with the Society’s top award for it’s conversion of Cairneymount Church, Maddiston for GRS Homes.

As well as wining the award, the project now goes forward automatically for the ‘RIAS Andrew Doolan Award for Architecture’ – the largest monetary prize award for Architecture in the UK with a top prize of £25,000 & held in the Scottish Parliament.

With an increased number of submissions to the competition this year the entries received covered a wide range of projects completed across the central belt from practices across the whole of Scotland. A short list of 7 was drawn up and following a day of judging by Sholto Humphreys, president of the RIAS, celebrated architect, Professor Andy MacMillan and chapter president Stephen Lynas the winning entries were selected.

In making the presentation, Mr Humphreys said ‘The Cairneymount Church Conversion showcases the sympathetic and successful approach taken to ensure the ongoing retention of this 1904 Neo-gothic church building through providing 2 striking conversion properties. Two carefully crafted and quite different extensions of timber, render and engineering brick to the south side of the church provide new living spaces that capture the views and open up spectacular vistas across the Forth Valley to the Ochil Hills.

This conversion successfully marries and integrates the original church features whilst weaving them with contemporary light filled spaces. The clever use of natural light to the homes provides bright and airy interiors.

With full height entrance halls, open plan living and galleries these conversions are full of spatial interplay that both enhance the enjoyment of the homes whilst providing spacious, crisply detailed homes with more than a hint of history.’ As well as the award itself, commendations were made to Edinburgh based practice Lewis & Hickey for their Stirling University Library work and Turato Architecture for an extension at 42 Randolph St, Stirling.

Chapter President, Stephen Lynas said “ It was encouraging to discover the wealth of recent architecture from all parts of the chapter. We aim to not only to recognise the projects of design excellence within the area, but to also recognise how design can impact on people’s lives.

There would however be no award if clients such as GRS Homes had not also recognised the value of good design and I would thank them for commissioning these projects from our members. We would also like to thank our Sponsor, Hadden Homes, without whom the award could not be made.”

Cairneymount Church Project Architect Ryan Marshall commented, “I am delighted we have won this award again. To do it twice in 3 years together with the number of other awards we have been involved in this year is a great testament to our team and the people that put trust in our expertise.

Having seen the calibre of some of the other entries it is a great achievement to come away with the top prize and I am incredibly proud of that. Not just for myself and the practice but also for clients like Graham Scott, Director of GRS Homes who has always embraced our ideas and allowed us to challenge the norm. This award is due recognition for the part they play in commissioning and working with architects.

ARKA Architects director Adam Toleman, commented, “ We have a great team at Arka. The success of a project is a combination of both the architectural skill of the architect and the way this is translated through the client and the builders to achieve a noteworthy project. Arka are pleased to work with both enlightened clients and dedicated contractors, the results speak for themselves.

SSA Design Awards information from Stirling Society of Architects

Jul 2011

Stirling Society of Architects Awards 2011

Stirling Society of Architects Design Awards 2011 : Submission

Clackmannnanshire’s/Falkirk’s/Stirling’s Top Buildings Sought

The Stirling Society of Architects is seeking the best buildings constructed in 2010 and 2011. Open to buildings designed by Chartered Architects, the award sponsored by Hadden Construction seeks to recognise the high standards of design offered by architects to their clients.

Chapter President, Stephen Lynas said “Now in its third year, the award is a key part of our strategy to promote architecture through engagement with the general public. We are encouraging not only architects to forward their buildings but we are happy to receive suggestions from clients, local authorities and civic trusts.”

Details can be obtained from our secretary, Moira Bain at [email protected] or from Stephen at [email protected]

The award winner will also receive a free entry to the prestigious Doolan Award, Scotland’s premier award for Architecture.

Entries are sought by 1 August 2011 and it is intended that all entries will be exhibited following the presentation of the award in September.

SSA Design Awards information from Stirling Society of Architects

Stirling Society of Architects 2011 Awards – Background

The SSA is a chapter of the Royal Incorporation of Architects in Scotland and covers the areas of Clackmannnanshire, Falkirk and Stirling Councils.

The 2011 SSA Design Awards are sponsored by Hadden Construction.

In 2010, Pollock Hammond Partnership’s regeneration of the Hippodrome Picture Palace in Bo’ness was voted the best building.

The 2011 Stirling Design Award – Entry Rules

GENERAL RULES OF ENTRY

The Award is open to any Chartered Architect (not necessarily a member of the Stirling Society of Architects) whose work has been completed in the Stirling Chapter Area. That is the areas of Clackmannnanshire, Falkirk and Stirling Councils.

The work must have been completed between 1 January 2010 and 31 March 2011.

Entrants must have their clients consent to enter the awards.

Entries must be received by 12 Noon on Monday 1 August 2011. All entries to be addressed to: Moira Bain, 31 Sandy Knowe, Tilllicoultry FK13 6RG. The receipt of all entries shall be acknowledged by email.

Each entry must be accompanied by a signed submission form.

Initial submissions should be as follows: –

Each project should be accompanied by a single file in pdf format, reproducible as a single A1 board in landscape format, to include drawings, images and text to adequately describe the project. File size must not exceed 10MB.

Each submission should be presented on a clearly marked CD ROM with the name and description of content attached. Following short listing the Stirling Society of Architects will prepare Al presentation boards of each project file initially submitted for exhibition purposes. High quality publication images however may also be requested following short listing.

Judging shall be carried out by a jury of at least three members to be appointed by the President of the Stirling Society of Architects. No correspondence shall be entered into regarding the judging procedure or the judges’ decision(s).

Judging shall take place in late August or early September. The Society reserves the right to shortlist entries and subsequently visit those shortlisted. It shall be the entrants’ responsibility to ensure that access is made available to the judges if requested.

The awards shall presented at Gean House, Alloa on 29 September 2011. All entrants and clients are encouraged to attend the ceremony.

The organisers reserve the right to publish and/or exhibit the entries in relation to the promotion of the awards.

It is intended that all entries shall be exhibited following the Award Ceremony.

Following the exhibition, entry material can be collected from the Stirling Society of Architects with prior arrangement by telephoning Moira Bain on 01259 750392.

Whilst due care will be taken with entries, the organisers do not accept any responsibility for loss or damage of materials submitted.

Signing the entry form constitutes unqualified acceptance of the rules. Any entries, which are found to be in breach of the rules will be disqualified and any costs may be recovered by the SSA.

Location: Stirling, Scotland

Stirling Architecture

Stirling Castle

Stirling Offices: Robertson Group

Thistle Centre Stirling

Stirling Council Offices

Station Square Stirling

4 Nov 2009

Stirling Society of Architects Awards – 2009

Stirling Society of Architects – Design Awards 2009 : Results

The Stirling Society of Architects, a chapter of the Royal Institute of Architects in Scotland, has announced the winner of its inaugural design awards. The event was held in the Best Western Park Hotel, Falkirk on 22nd October 2009. Sponsored by Ibstock Brick, the award was open to all practices across Scotland and called for entries for any project completed in 2007 & 2008 in the chapter area that covered the central Scotland areas of Stirling, Falkirk and Clackmannanshire.

The entries received covered a wide range of projects from practices based across the country of which a short list of 6 was drawn up. Following a day of judging by David Dunbar, president of the RIAS and celebrated architect, Professor Andy MacMillan the winning entries were selected.

In the end it was Falkirk based OMI Architects’ Easter Greenrigg Steading development for local developer GRS Homes that walked away with the top S-S-A ‘Best Building’ design award 2009. As well as wining the award, the project now goes forward for the ‘RIAS Andrew Doolan Award for Architecture’ – the largest monetary prize award for Architecture in the UK with a top prize of £25,000.

It was a successful night for OMI as the 2nd award also went to the young practice for their innovative extension to a converted Coach House in Falkirk. The project received the ‘judges commendation’ for its highly detailed and innovative response to the project brief.

Judges comments:

The Coach House (Commendation)

The judges felt that this project had been carefully considered and thoughtfully detailed. It created some much needed additional space to a family home and the use of natural light created an impression of space which belies the extensions modest size.

The judges were also aware that projects of this nature are often commissioned without the services of a Chartered Architect and it was felt that this was an excellent example of the added value and excellent design which can be achieved through using a Chartered Architect.

It was felt that this project was worthy of a Commendation and that it embodied many of the merits of the overall winning project albeit on a more modest scale.

Easter Greenrigg Steading (Award Winner)

The judges felt that this project eschewed quality throughout, from the overall design, through attention to detail and the specification of quality finishes.

The design has successfully made the most of the wonderful views to the surrounding countryside and has made the most of an existing rural building to create modern homes encompassing an awareness of three dimensional space within the public spaces.

However, although the entry submission for this project was specifically for one unit, the judges unanimously felt that the development worked cohesively as a whole and that this was a key factor in the overall success of the development.

Winners comments;

Easter Greenrigg project Architect Ryan Marshall commented, ” I am delighted that we have won these awards , not just for us as a practice but also for our clients who do put a lot of trust in us. Being afforded the trust and belief in your ability by someone brings a lot of responsibility and when you undertake a project like Easter Greenrigg steading that tries to challenge the norm, that trust is put to the test, especially in the current economic climate!.

I am extremely happy to say that this has paid off and that the award is a testament to the belief shown in our ideas by Graham Scott at GRS homes. It would have been easy for him to look for a more straightforward design but he gave us the freedom to express our ideas. This has been rewarded in the sale of all the properties and indeed this award.

I hope that other developers/house builders can perhaps start to think a little more out of the box in terms of what they build in the local area. I think in the current climate people are questioning how they spend their money and are asking more questions of what they are being offered. That can easily apply to both new houses and extensions.

We have a number of local projects & developments on the drawing boards and I hope that our designs can be seen as a positive contribution to the urban fabric and to the image of the town as a whole.”

Practice director Adam Toleman voiced his delight at winning the top two prizes in the inaugural event. “We are a relatively young architectural practice who are working hard to achieve the best that we can for our clients and we have built up an impressive portfolio of work over the last eight years. To have this recognised by winning both “Best Building” and the 2nd place “Commendation” gives us great impetus to continue producing quality buildings throughout the area.”

“The move to new offices in Cockburn Street, Falkirk two years ago was good for raising the profile of the practice but most of our work comes via recommendations from previous clients, people recognise when something special has been achieved and are very willing to pass our name onto others”.

“These awards have come at a good time, although the construction industry is not having it easy at the moment good design does I think pay off. Projects we are involved in are selling and we have remained busy throughout the last year. I think it is testament to a good, talented team and I have to hand out my own congratulations to both Ryan Marshall and Sandy Wilson who have put so much energy into the practice.”

GRS Homes’ Graham Scott congratulated the practice and went on to say.. “We have worked on a number of developments with OMI now and the result has been the completion of some very successful projects. It is great for us to be associated with the award and is a great endorsement for the skills of the team at OMI Architects whom I can not speak highly enough of, as well as my own team who have strived to make the architects vision a reality.”

A spokesperson from the S.S.A commented: ” This event, the first event in the chapter history, is aimed at drawing attention to our built environment across central Scotland in the Stirling chapter area. It is intended that this will be come an annual event on the awards calendar. A lot of good work is done in the chapter and the S.S.A Design award is a vehicle to raise awareness of this work and celebrate it.

In doing so it is hoped that, as with the success seen in the Glasgow and Edinburgh chapter awards, public interest can be stimulated and that the desire for well designed buildings and public spaces can further developed with in the chapter. We look forward now to next years awards and hope that the event can continue to grow from this years success ”

The Stirling Society of Architects – Oct 2009
President – Sandy Dawson
Secretary – Moira Bain

Location: Stirling, central Scotland, UK, north western Europe

Architecture in Scotland

Contemporary Architecture in Scotland

Scottish Architecture

Carnegie Museum and Arts Centre Dunfermline Building
Design: Richard Murphy Architects
Carnegie Museum and Arts Centre Dunfermline Building
photo from architects practice
Dunfermline Museum

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