Scotland on Sunday

Talking to architect Dick Cannon, you'd never know the practice he runs with partner Tom Elder had won two major Scottish Architecture awards this year. On top of commendations at national and UK awards, the architects won the Royal Incorporation of Architects in Scotland Award for their latest work at St Aloysius School, Clavius Building in Glasgow, and the Saltire Award for their residential project, the Icon Building on the banks of the Clyde. Instead of an air of celebration at the Elder & Cannon camp, it's business as usual. "It's always nice to win a prize, but sometimes you can have your own self belief whether you win one or not," Cannon says. "Prizes, if you don't take them too far, are a good thing. It gives the profession a basis for signalling an important culmination of that year, but I suppose the most important thing is to feel that you've done a good job yourself within the limits that were set."