A remodelled farm in the Borders and Glasgow’s Athletes’ Village were among the winners at the 2016 Saltire Society Housing Design Awards.
The awards, which have been going strong for almost eight decades, celebrate the best of Scottish housebuilding and place-making.
Winners were recognised across four different categories, each receiving a Saltire plaque:
- The remodelling of a farm building in the Borders, Blakeburn Cottage, won an award in the Alterations, Renovation and Extensions category and was selected to win the Saltire Medal and £1500.
- The renovation of Muckle Roe Chapel on Muckle Roe Island, Shetland, also won an award in the Alterations, Renovation and Extensions category.
- Tigh Na Croit, a new build project in Ross-shire won an award in the Single Dwelling New Build category.
- Glasgow’s Commonwealth Games Athletes Village won an award in the Landscape in Housing category.
- Hab Lab, a project that explores how the ‘Performance gap’ found within new and existing housing stock can be eliminated, won an award and £1500 in the Innovation in Housing category.
Michael Mallinder-Macleod, a student at Edinburgh University, received the Saltire International Travel Bursary, created in partnership with the British Council Scotland, for a submission titled ‘Housing an ageing population: How are our neighbours doing it?’ He will now publish a report with ideas for Scotland’s elderly housing sector after travelling to Denmark and the Netherlands to speak with architects involved in designing homes for elderly living.
Housing Minister Kevin Stewart MSP said at the ceremony, “In this, the 80th year of the Saltire Society, these Awards continue to set a benchmark for excellence in the design of individual housing and in the creation of great places.
“Highlighting exemplary practice in housing, the Saltire Society’s Awards promote projects that showcase the importance of design in delivering good quality across all tenures and house types.”
Jim Tough, executive director of the Saltire Society added, “The Housing Design Awards were the very first Awards scheme initiated by the society, and have been around longer than any other design awards in Scotland.
“Established in 1937, the Awards not only promote the importance of good design and housing for all, but have evolved to help to honour and encourage creativity, excellence and innovation in modern Scottish place-making.
“As ever I have been very impressed by the design, innovation and attention to detail that is present in all of this year’s shortlisted entries. The feedback from the judges is that the decisions on the overall winners were particularly hard to make, which is testament to the calibre of architectural talent in Scotland today.”
