Highland whisky centre and Queensferry Crossing win glittering awards

A £140 million distillery and visitor experience in the Scottish Highlands has won the prestigious 2019 Royal Incorporation of Architects in Scotland (RIAS) Andrew Doolan Best Building in Scotland award.

Macallan Distillery and Visitor Experience in Aberlour, Moray.

The award was presented at a ceremony at the National Museum of Scotland in Edinburgh, itself a previous Doolan winner, by Aileen Campbell, Cabinet Secretary for Communities and Local Government, alongside Mrs Margaret Doolan Hon FRIAS.

The award is supported by the late Andrew Doolan’s mother and family and by the Scottish Government.

The Queensferry Crossing.

Ms Campbell said: “The RIAS Andrew Doolan Award underlines the importance that Scotland places on good design, and this year’s winning project, the Macallan Distillery and Visitor Experience, is an outstanding addition to our built environment.

“We will continue to support the architecture and design sector so Scotland’s buildings and places enrich our lives, lessen our environmental impact and contribute to our cultural and national identity.”

The judges Professor Sadie Morgan, from Stirling Prize winning practice, dRMM; Henry McKeown, director of the award-winning Scottish Practice jm architect and Professor Mona Siddiqui OBE Hon FRIAS, from the University of Edinburgh’s School of Divinity, said: “The attention to detail and the consistency and control of aesthetic decisions in this building is incredibly impressive.

A "worthy winner"

Meanwhile, the Queensferry Crossing has won best infrastructure project in the UK at the 2019 RICS (Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors) Awards grand final.

The £1.35 billion bridge over the Forth opened to traffic in August 2017.

Judges hailed the crossing - the world’s longest three-towered, cable-stayed bridge at 2,633 metres - as a “worthy winner”

They also congratulated the project team -Transport Scotland, Dissing+Weitling Architecture and Forth Crossing Bridge Constructors (FCBC) - made up of Galliford Try, Hochtief, Dragados and American Bridge International.