Best Building in Scotland: Aberdeen Art Gallery by Hoskins Architects

This is the second time that a building by Hoskins Architects has won the Andrew Doolan Award, which counts among the UK’s most important distinctions for architecture. The prize is awarded annually by a specialist jury that evaluates the architectural integrity, usability, context, execution and implementation of individual projects, as well as their sustainability.
This year, the Royal Incorporation of Architects in Scotland (RIAS) has distinguished the Aberdeen Art Gallery with the 2021 Andrew Doolan Award for Best Building in Scotland. From 2015 until 2019, Hoskins Architects upgraded and expanded the historically protected building from the nineteenth century. Over the course of the project the museum, which is nearly 140 years old, was enhanced with new exhibition and educational areas; it was also topped off with a roof clad with copper sheeting. Moreover, the architects improved the structure’s ecological balance and updated the gallery’s art handling, storage, back-office area and study facilities.
Hoskins Architects won high praise for their upgrading project from RIAS president Christina Gaiger: “Aberdeen Art Gallery is an outstanding building and a highly deserving winner of the 2021 Doolan Award. Hoskins Architects have brought a piece of Scottish heritage into the 21^st century with humility, skill and sensitivity. In the face of the climate emergency, how we upgrade, respect and adapt our existing building stock is absolutely crucial. In Aberdeen Art Gallery we have an outstanding example of how a public building, thanks to the talent of Hoskins Architects and far-sighted clients Aberdeen City Council, exemplifies the smart re-use of an existing building as part of a collective regenerative response to climate change.”

Virtual tour of the museum