The 2017 RIAS architecture award winners

The Royal Incorporation of Architects in Scotland (RIAS) has announced the 12 winners of the 2017 award for best current Scottish architecture.

The shortlist for the RIAS Andrew Doolan Best Building in Scotland Award, to be presented in November, consists of all 12 winners.

The judges said: "The initial impression is of immensity, boldly signalling the building's presence as an important place of learning. The palette and form of the building are deliberately restrained to generate something of skill, clarity and elegance, on the grandest scale."

"This house is more than a match for the challenge of its dramatic site," the RIAS judges said.

"Uncompromisingly rectilinear, its interior gains maximum benefit from the extraordinary views which it commands. In keeping with the exposed rock faces which embrace the building, its materials are robust."

"Bringing together museum, art galleries, meeting rooms and a café, alongside the world's first Andrew Carnegie Library, the building is arranged around an internal "street"," the judges said.

"This elegantly and legibly connects all of its facilities."

The judges said: "This is a substantial healthcare hub, serving a large area, bringing together NHS and council services with four GP practices.

"The brick-clad exterior of the building, softened by timber accents, draws visitors into the welcoming atrium."

"There are very few sites which combine proximity to a major conurbation with coastal views of this quality," the judges said.

"Although set between a busy road and a public beach, this new home is simultaneously public and private, polite and deceptively large."

The judge said: "This adapted former shepherd's cottage keeps faith with its original character.

"New red roofs echo the historic corrugated metal which features throughout the Highlands. A thing of gentle diligence, this new home enhances this remote little corner of Scotland."

"This shared English and Gaelic language campus brings together two schools on one site yet allows each to maintain its own distinct identity," the judges said.

"Scale, form and materials respond to the historic tenemental character of the area."

"Set within the listed walls of the A-Listed Bruntsfield Tower, these new buildings retain the historic campus quality of the school," the judges said.

"The new development embraces the 'full education journey' from nursery to secondary within attractive, flexible new facilities."

"In the 1930s, two adjoining townhouses were adapted to provide large floorplate apartments," the judges said.

"While respecting the Georgian character of its spaces, bold design moves and the reconfiguration of the layout create a contemporary dwelling of real impact."

The RIAS judging panel said: "On an elevation, commanding long views over the agricultural landscape, this cluster of separate spaces reflects the way that historic farm buildings developed over decades past.

"The zinc cladding reflects the light and cloud patterns of its setting."

"This urban-edge site is bounded on three sides by busy roads, rising significantly front to back," the judges said.

"Self-contained around an upper level courtyard, this robustly sculptural building enhances the locale. Entrance and shared social spaces open to the street."

"Described as the 'creative engine room' for the National Theatre, the existing structural frame was retained and re-clad to reinforce the industrial aesthetic," the judges said.

"A restrained internal palette houses a double-height atrium/social space, rehearsal spaces, offices and meeting rooms."