Architecture and Design Scotland - A&DS

We are delighted to share a new summary report from our most recent shared learning event, which supports those delivering the Learning Estate in Scotland. This summary highlights three school projects, illustrating two common themes: community and Passivhaus design. They go beyond traditional educational spaces, serving wider community needs and aligning with Scottish Government and COSLA learning strategies.

Schools featured include:
- Monifieth Learning Campus in Angus
- Faifley Community Campus in West Dunbartonshire
- Drumgeith Community Campus and Greenfield Academy in Dundee

Read key learnings captured from the March 2026 shared learning event on lessons learnt from completed LEIP projects 👉 https://bit.ly/42u6D3r

📸 Drumgeith Community Campus library, a project by Holmes Miller

One month to go!

Students from Scotland's six architecture schools have until 25 June at 12 PM to submit their entries for this year's A&DS and RIAS Scottish Student Awards for Architecture.

Don't miss your chance to showcase your work and be recognised 🏆

If you're unsure of how to submit your entries, we are also hosting an online Q&A event with last year's winners. More info below 👇

📢 The A&DS and RIAS (The Royal Incorporation of Architects in Scotland) Scottish Student Awards for Architecture is now open for submissions! More information below👇

Coming soon 👇

We are excited to reveal that our A&DS & RIAS Scottish Student Awards for Architecture are back for 2026.

Our Student Awards, in tandem with Architecture and Design Scotland - A&DS, are an annual highlight – marking the continuing high standards of Scottish architectural education and ensuring that both construction professionals and the public can enjoy the creativity and vision of Scotland’s future architects.

Stay tuned for more information regarding dates coming soon.

If you would like to check out our past winners, head to our website here: https://eu1.hubs.ly/H0twZ6v0

How much do the spaces outside our buildings really matter?

According to the latest episode of the Value of Design podcast, quite a lot.

In Episode 2, “How our landscape can shape learning, living and the design of our buildings,” educators, architects and landscape designers share how outdoor spaces influence:
🌱 children’s learning and play
🌱 climate resilience (climate ready school grounds Learning through Landscapes Scotland)
🌱 community health and wellbeing
🌱 the design of Scotland’s future places

Recorded at Learning Places Scotland Conference and the Landscape Institute National Housing and Regeneration Conference, the episode brings together perspectives from schools, design studios and national organisations.

🎧 Listen here: https://bit.ly/4rwpGE9

Featuring guests from rankinfraser landscape architecture, Montgomerie Park Primary School, The Royal Incorporation of Architects in Scotland and Architecture and Design Scotland.

As we wrap up 2025, we want to say a heartfelt thank you to everyone we’ve worked with this year. This year has been a year of change and celebration, from marking our 20th anniversary to preparing for an exciting new chapter as a sector development body. Thank you to everyone who worked with us this year. Wishing you a joyful festive season and an inspiring 2026!

For our final post in our series looking back at our 20-year history, we are highlighting projects that supported construction and house building with a particular focus on sustainable building materials.

Material Considerations: Architecture and Design Scotland Library of Sustainable Building Materials was a hands-on resource in The Lighthouse, where visitors could learn about, touch, and even handle small sustainable building materials. We also shared case studies of built examples and construction mock-ups. The materials library hosted workshops for students and groups to share learning, enabling them to consider material qualities better and interrogate the reasons for specification.

The Best Use of Timber exhibition series - in collaboration with Forestry Commission Scotland Commission Scotland and RIAS Awards – showcased the best timber buildings in Scotland. From the House at Camusdarach Sands, to Bath Street Collective Self Build, and from the Glad Cafe to Abbotsford Visitor Centre, the projects demonstrated the possibilities of design with timber in Scotland.

The Green 2014 exhibition, presented at The Lighthouse in 2014, explored the sustainability legacy of the XX Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, where we also explored the offsite construction innovation that delivered 700 homes in 700 days in building offsite events and site visits. Building on this, our "using offsite construction for housing delivery" publication explored built examples in Scotland.

Our learning and legacy of sustainable building materials, offsite construction and effective outreach will help us as we deliver on our new direction, where housing, climate and sector development are key cornerstones of our work.

Sign up to our newsletter to be kept up to date with our upcoming work 👉 https://bit.ly/20aAdS

At Architecture and Design Scotland, we support the delivery of well-designed learning environments. Outdoor learning spaces are an integral part of this story, and we have long championed the value and impact outdoor learning can have on health, wellbeing and positive learning experiences.

As we look back on 20 years of our work, we are celebrating our legacy in this area. We have a wealth of experience in capturing the user voice, exploring opportunities within existing spaces, identifying potential design interventions, testing new ideas and approaches, and seeking to understand how our outdoor spaces can mitigate the effects of climate change.

Most recently, we’ve been working with Queen Margaret University, Edinburgh, to create an Outdoor Learning Hub and Discovery Trail. The Hub created on the campus supports existing and future educators to confidently use and think about outdoor space as a way to engage, connect and enrich the experiences of learners, and the wider community.

Read our most recent case study of the Outdoor Learning Hub and Discovery Trail at Queen Margaret University 👉 https://bit.ly/3X0iUKd