The Scottish parliament building, designed by EMBT/RMJM Ltd has won the RIAS Andrew Doolan Award for Architecture, Best Building in Scotland 2005. A total of five buildings were shortlisted. The £25,000 prize was presented to EMBT/RMJM Ltd today, Wednesday 5 October, at Point Conference Centre, Edinburgh by Mrs Margaret Doolan, mother of the late Andrew Doolan who, with the RIAS, created the award in 2002.

The vision for the Scottish parliament building, completed, in November 2004, was for a unique institution - open, anti-classical and anti-hierarchical. The brief demanded that the building must be of such a quality, durability and civic importance as to reflect the Parliament's status."

Speaking about the winner, RIAS President and chair of the judging panel, Douglas Read, said: "Here is a building shrouded in controversy, one which provokes strong reactions from everyone. The jury were fully aware of all this and we had determined that we were there to judge it as Architecture not as scandal. Enrique Miralles' concept of stopping the Old Town with the strong North/South MSPs office block and then setting up a campus Parliament to the East of it has resulted in one of the most instantly identifiable buildings in Europe. There is no part of this building that has not been consciously designed, everything has been considered. It is not a minimalist building; it has decoration and a rich array of symbolism from the famous upturned boats to blowing corn in the wind to the Reverend Walker skating on Duddingston Loch. It also has complete public access and a dedication to transparent democracy and, while meeting all these demands, it also takes full advantage of its prominent site to merge in with the land - as Miralles always said he wanted it to. It is a magnificent achievement and the design team EMBT/RMJM deserve our fullest congratulations"

The award was renamed the RIAS Andrew Doolan Award for Architecture (previously RIAS Award for Architecture) in 2004 in memory of its founder and patron, the architect Andrew Doolan, who died in April of that year. The award would not exist without his extraordinary generosity and vision. The award was established by the RIAS and Andrew Doolan in 2002.