Moxon Architects' new Quarry Studios HQ is named the best building in Scotland of 2022

The Royal Incorporation of Architects in Scotland (RIAS) has named a rural office and café by Moxon Architects as its Andrew Doolan Best Building in Scotland Award winner for 2022.

Completed in 2020, Quarry Studios serves as the firm’s new headquarters while also providing a perky public reprieve for tourists and visitors staggering in from nearby Balmoral. 

The structure is located in a heavily-wooded Site of Special Scientific Interest inside Cairngorms National Park. Its low-profile sheet metal roof and timber walls are supported by a hybrid timber/steel frame with a pair of concrete chimney pillars as bookends to create a linear hearth-like profile set against the escapement edge of the former granite quarry.

Moxon made an effort to incorporate as many locally-sourced materials as possible in its construction, including douglas fir wall sections, and says they arranged the interior office layout around their “flat-hierarchy” work philosophy and the attendant need for privacy.

“Comparing such a wide variety of buildings was hard, but Quarry Studios demonstrates exceptionally careful thought in creating a high-quality and tactile building that is full of detail, while also delivering broader social outcomes,” jury chair Amin Taha stated. “Moxon Architects have designed a building that is highly sustainable — not only in terms of its carbon footprint and support for local biodiversity but also in how it acts as a catalyst for supporting local businesses and its community.”

The studio joins last year’s winner Hoskins on a now ten-year-old list that includes RSHP, Page\Park, and OMA (among others). A £10,000 ($12,000 USD) cash prize is awarded to each winner with support from the Scottish government.

“Each year the Doolan Award allows us the opportunity not only to consider some wonderful projects but also reflect on how they tackle contemporary issues," RIAS President Chris Stewart said finally. 

"Quarry Studios finds ways to regenerate what was brownfield back into the landscape while creating community resource and a self-developed place of work. How we blend solutions through design is at the heart of what we do, in that context it is a pleasure to see all the shortlisted projects and a joy to discover the winner,” Stewart added.