Winners announced for the 2024 A&DS and RIAS Scottish Student Awards for Architecture

(October 2024) The winners of the 2024 Architecture and Design Scotland and Royal Incorporation of Architects in Scotland (RIAS) Scottish Student Awards for Architecture have been announced. 

The sold-out evening saw winning and commended projects with innovative ideas and beautiful drawings on subjects including accessible and inclusive urban green spaces, the uses and potential of bio materials, architecture interventions to provides community spaces, and lots more.

The winners were announced at the annual Andy MacMillan Memorial Lecture on Wednesday 9 October at Civic House in Glasgow. The lecture consisted of Glasgow City Councillor Holly Bruce in conversation with Collective Architecture's Jude Barber.

The judging panel consisted of:

• Dr Lynn Wilson | Creative Director, Circular Design Synergy and Board Member, A&DS
• Kuan Loh | Senior Architect, Scottish Government
• Helen Lucas | Director, Helen Lucas Architects
• Holly Bruce | Councillor, Glasgow City Council
• Jude Barber | Director, Collective Architecture

Winner: Euan Clarke (Mackintosh School of Architecture) for Decode

Judges’ comments: "The judges loved the subtly political narrative and intent of this project in Marseille, France. This thesis examines the accessibility and ownership of personal information, proposing a future where personal data is decentralised and nationalised. DECODE democratises architecture with an emphasis on people and public accessibility. In creating a new urban park, the project challenges the idea of extensive demolition on the ground with an alternative approach of creating an over-ground spine bridge structure as a thread through the new park, from which other programmes can nest and connect. This project encourages the use of urban green spaces that are accessible and inclusive, fostering a sense of equity and culture."

Read about his winning project and plans for the future in this article here.

Also awarded in this category:

• Highly Commended: Jia Hui Lin (Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art & Design) for Palimpsestic Faith: the Secular Symbol of Space
• Commended: Jakob Young (University of Strathclyde) for The High-Street School: Place Based Pedagogy in the Age of Neoliberalism - A Holistic Exploration for Educational Reform

Shortlisted in this category:

• Helen Stout (University of Strathclyde) for Rural Revival: Curing “Cultivated Scars” to live lightly on the Danish landscape
• Ninian Gibson (University of Strathclyde) | Object Anthology
• Sonakshi Pandit (University of Edinburgh) | Eco-Socialist Rituals across the Water of Leith

Winner: Ailsa Hutton (Mackintosh School of Architecture) for The Hidden Network of Mycelium

Judges’ comments: "Set in Knoydart Peninsula, this project enjoyed design, functionality, temporality and the opportunity to use a new bio building material – mycelium. The project explores, with a sensitive understanding, the limitations and realities of designing and building with bio-based materials.  It not only considers long-term use, but what materials must deliver in reuse and in the short-term. The proposal is a semi-permanent structure to house a team on site during planting season, with a focus on improving soil structure to ensure the success of the new forest. The design is intentional to allow both construction and deconstruction to leave no harm. The quality of drawing and presentation in this project is very high. An exciting idea that is beautifully drawn.

Read about her winning project and plans for the future in this article here.

Also awarded in this category:

• Commended: Karina Rac (Edinburgh School of Architecture and Landscape Architecture) for Precarious Performance

Shortlisted in this category:

• Abelard Viguier (Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art & Design) for Vulkan Concert Hall
• Marco Antonio Paz-Garcia (Scott Sutherland School of Architecture & Built Environment) for Rewilding the Industrialized Torry
• Jiadong Zhou (Mackintosh School of Architecture) for Watchman on the Hilltop
• Wenjing Huang (The University of Edinburgh) for Second Spring

Winner: Briony Potter and Isabelle Warren (Edinburgh School of Architecture and Landscape Architecture) for Working Walls: Negotiating (Im)material Grounds

Judges’ comments: "Beautiful architectural interventions in Porta Capuana, Naples. The working walls act as new landmarks and create new uses and places for the community, while defending the city from the harsher impacts of climate change and retaining fresh water as needed in extremes of heat. It looks at an important solution and contribution to a city that has a real-life threat. The approach and solutions have the potential to be replicated in similar global cities with ideas that could, for example, be repurposed in Scotland. The three-dimensional drawings in the submission, are incredibly atmospheric with a great use of colour. The isometrics are exceptional."

Read about their winning project and plans for the future in this article here.

Also awarded in this category:

• Highly Commended: Euan Clarke (Mackintosh School of Architecture) for Decode
• Commended: Archie Reid (Name of school) for The Landscape of (Im)Permanence

Shortlisted in this category:

• Ciara FitzGerald (The University of Edinburgh) for [Re]commissioning the Street
• Callum Geddes Symmons (Mackintosh School of Architecture) for Making Public
• Struan Morrison (University of Strathclyde) for Leith Central Masterplan & Arts Centre

Winner: Ailsa Hutton - Mackintosh School of Architecture for ‘The Hidden Network of Mycelium’.

Judges’ comments: "Set in Knoydart Peninsula, this project enjoyed design, functionality, temporality and the opportunity to use a new bio building material – mycelium. The project explores, with a sensitive understanding, the limitations and realities of designing and building with bio-based materials.  It not only considers long-term use, but what materials must deliver in reuse and in the short-term. The proposal is a semi-permanent structure to house a team on site during planting season, with a focus on improving soil structure to ensure the success of the new forest. The design is intentional to allow both construction and deconstruction to leave no harm. The quality of drawing and presentation in this project is very high. An exciting idea that is beautifully drawn."

Also awarded in this category:

• Highly commended: Sonakshi Pandit (Edinburgh School of Architecture and Landscape Architecture) for Eco-Socialist Rituals across the Water of Leith
• Highly commended: Briony Potter and Isabelle Warren (Edinburgh School of Architecture and Landscape Architecture) for Working Walls: Negotiating (Im)material Grounds

Winner: Briony Potter and Isabelle Warren (Edinburgh School of Architecture and Landscape Architecture) for Working Walls: Negotiating (Im)material Grounds

Judges’ comments: "This project captured the vision through phenomenal drawing skills including exceptional isometrics, layering of graphics and use of colour. Beautiful presentation of architecture interventions to make places for the community and new landmarks for the city. The intricate and atmospheric illustrations successfully draw viewers into the project. It is impossible to separate who did which drawing from this team of two."

Also awarded in this category:

• Highly Commended: Jakob Young (University of Strathclyde) for The High-Street School: Place Based Pedagogy in the Age of Neoliberalism - A Holistic Exploration for Educational Reform
• Highly Commended: Jia Hui Lin (Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art & Design) for Palimpsestic Faith: the Secular Symbol of Space