"Freedom and whisky gang thegither -"
RIBA AWARDS 2007
May 2007
The Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) have announced their award winning buildings for 2007. They made three awards in Scotland this year and our project at Circus Lane designed by Richard Murphy Architects was amongst them.
The two other award winning developments were The Bridge Arts Centre in Glasgow by Gareth Hoskins Architects and The Scottish Story Telling Centre in Edinburgh designed by Malcolm Fraser Architects.
The RIBA Awards organisers are always keen to stress that Award-winning buildings can be of any size and budget and with Circus Lane the judges "found a delightful, compact home which proves that small is beautiful".
Tenacity "well beyond the call of duty" on the part of both architect and client through a lengthy planning battle finally ensured the creation of this small private residence in a Georgian "New Town" mews.
The judges admired the architect's fresh and inventive approach, enabling a complex living-dining area and three bedrooms to be squeezed into a tiny trapezoidal site.
Summing up the jury's impressions, Rab Bennetts, Jury Chair said:
"As with other projects by Richard Murphy, the colour and detailing are intense and thoroughly engaging and, although there are inevitable references to Carlo Scarpa, this is clearly an original work that far exceeds the normal standard of new domestic architecture. Seeing the completed house, it is hard to imagine why so many obstructions were placed in the way of the planning applications. As a template for sensitive but uncompromisingly modern urban infill within an historic street, Edinburgh's City planners could do much worse than look to this small project for inspiration."
This is now the ninth RIBA award Inscape have won since our first award winning project in Inverleith Gardens in 1992. During that time we have been runners up for the Stering Award for Britain's best building on two separate occasions and the major contractor for Scotland's Best Building in 2003 in Tiree.
Circus Lane itself has already been commended by the Saltire Society and Inscape were the recipients of the Good Building Award from the Chartered Institute or Building in Scotland for the quality of workmanship at Circus Lane, an award we have previously won before for the workmanship on our project at Sciennes Gardens designed by Malcolm Fraser Architects.
Related Projects
Sciennes Gardens
An Turas
Circus Lane
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