Ultra-modern office for housing group is Scotland's best building

STRIKING new offices for a housing association in the east end of Glasgow have triumphed in the annual contest to find Scotland's best building.

The radical transformation of Shettleston's former Co-operative Hall, which now boasts an ultra-modern extension, won Scotland's richest architectural prize last night.

The project fought off competition from a holiday home, a community hall, a science building, a cinema restoration and a new arts centre to win the honour at the Scottish Parliament in Edinburgh.

Glasgow-based architects Elder & Cannon designed the contemporary extension, which stands alongside an Edwardian sandstone building.

The new-look home for the Shettleston Housing Association is being billed as a "beacon and driver for investment" in one of the most deprived areas of Glasgow. The judges praised the "ingenuity" of the extension and the "careful" way it had been brought together with the existing building.

Other contenders for the Doolan Prize - organised by the Royal Incorporation of Architects in Scotland - included a community hall on the Isle of Raasay, an extension to a traditional cottage in Aberdeenshire and a research building at St Andrews University.

The refurbishment of Dundee's main cultural building, the McManus Galleries, by Glasgow-based Page & Park Architects, was given a special mention by the panel of expert judges.

It was rated ahead of other major cultural projects including the transformation of Glasgow's historic Briggait building on Clydeside into a new arts centre, a painstaking refurbishment of the Hippodrome Cinema in Bo'ness, West Lothian, and the new visitor centre at the Royal Botanic Garden in Edinburgh.

The judges' citation for the winner said: "There is no question that new architecture of this quality will contribute to enhanced pride of place and hopefully serve as a catalyst to further high quality development in the area."

The competition was set up in memory of leading Edinburgh architect Andrew Doolan, who died six years ago.

Professor Andy MacMillan, of Glasgow University, who chaired this year's judging panel, said: "The winning scheme is a masterly essay in architectural understatement.

"Its materials and detailing unify the design internally but the bringing together of two quite distinct eras of architecture externally is deftly done.

"Elder & Cannon Architects must be commended for creating a new work for Glasgow of international quality."

Culture minister Fiona Hyslop, who presided over last night's event, said: "Scottish architecture is among the very best in Europe. We have projects of outstanding quality which are having a positive impact on our communities, our economy and the environment."