The RIAS Andrew Doolan Awards 2006 - The Inside Story

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Archiseek / UK / Scotland / News / 2006 / November 22

As my fellow Andrew Doolan Award judges and I were driven around Scotland last week I was reminded of the profound social and emotional effects architecture can have. In these days when architecture tends to be judged by iconic image, it was refreshing to have a shortlist of ten buildings all of which were palpably improving people's lives. Over two days five of us - Clare Wright (of Wright and Wright Architects), Frank McDonald (Irish Times), Douglas Read (RIAS President) and me, led by RIAS Chief Executive Mary Wrenn - travelled from Edinburgh, to Perth and Inverness, and then back down to Glasgow. The first building we visited was the tiny but beautifully formed house, 3 Seton Mains (Paterson Architects), east of Edinburgh. Its cedar board cladding glowing in the weak morning sunshine, it stood like a simple poem overlooking the fields sloping down to the Firth of Forth. All the judges were taken by the cool rigour of the interior, and the way it relates to the landscape.

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