Architecture's largest prize split between two winners

The largest cash award in architecture, awarded by the Royal Incorporation of Architects in Scotland (RIAS), has been split evenly between two winners for the first time.

The £25,000 RIAS Andrew Doolan Prize was awarded to Bennetts Associates and Elder & Cannon Architects for, respectively, the Potterrow Development at the University of Edinburgh and the restoration of Castlemilk Stables in Glasgow.

Eleven projects were shortlisted for the prestigious prize, including Foster + Partners' Quartermile development, and the Culloden Battlefield Visitors Centre designed by Gareth Hoskins, which the judges highly commended.

Linda Fabiani, Scotland's minister for Europe, external affairs and culture, presented the award at a ceremony on Friday night. She said: “That the judges were unable to choose between this year's joint winners is surely an indication of the tremendous design talent we are nurturing in Scotland. My congratulations go to Elder & Cannon Architects and Bennetts Associates.”

Building's Phase One event in Edinburgh gave revellers an exclusive tour of Bennetts Associates' prize-winning building, which houses the Informatics department of the Scottish capital's university.