Macallan Distillery scoops the prestigious RIAS Doolan Prize

The RSHP-designed Macallan Distillery and Visitor Centre has scooped the prestigious RIAS Doolan Prize, a Scottish architectural award for the best building in Scotland, named in memory of its founder Andrew Doolan.

The Macallan Distillery beat six other shortlisted projects to take the coveted prize, which was presented at a ceremony at the National Museum of Scotland in Edinburgh last week.

Gillespies worked closely with RSHP to deliver a dramatic undulating green roof, one of the largest wildflower roofs in Europe. As Speyside is a designated Area of Great Landscape Value the distillery had to be sensitive to its environment. The distillery has been carefully embedded within the sloping ground, maximising level changes whilst leaving the distinctive roofline to be announced from afar. A series of new outdoor experiences and dramatic arrival spaces send visitors on a dynamic journey through the landscapes that unfurl and reveal the built form beneath them.

The judges said; ‘the attention to detail and the consistency and control of aesthetic decisions in this building is incredibly impressive. A worthy winner. ’

This is a striking piece of contemporary design that shows how architecture can successfully marry the industrial with the natural.

Image copyright: Jim Stephenson