Being a judge on the Scottish Design Awards is both a real privilege and also an education. You get to see the best work being produced in our country and how developing issues such as placemaking and sustainability are being addressed. Producing the level of projects that we saw takes a huge amount of skill and dedication, and as a practicing architect I know only too well the amount of time and effort that went into them - often by young, emerging designers. The future of Scottish design is bright, but I feel we don’t get nearly enough exposure internationally and events like these Awards should help to promote our skills to a wider audience and hopefully provide future opportunities.”

Alistair Scott, Co-founder, Smith Scott Mullan Associates

Judging the Scottish Design Awards is a privilege. It brings together a whole gamut of perspectives, with judges from both academic and practical backgrounds, to explore and debate entries. As always, we were impressed by the scope of talent, creativity and composition presented across categories. The nominees are testament to Scotland’s vibrant design community.

Cat Leaver, Head of Brand & Global Marketing at VisitScotland

Judging the Scottish Design Awards 2023 and chairing the architecture panel was both a privilege and pleasure. The panel of judges brought an interesting and diverse range of experience from public, private and academic practice. Their insight on design details up to wider place context was invaluable to the assessment process. Overall, the calibre of entries for all categories was very high. It was great to see such a variety of projects and there were some exceptional entries which exemplified people centred and carbon conscious design. I particularly enjoyed seeing how functionality, fun and futureproofing had been achieved, through good design.

Heather Claridge, Director of Design, Architecture and Design Scotland

Participating in the Scottish Design Awards process has been a tremendously gratifying experience, both from a professional and personal perspective. Witnessing first-hand the exceptional level of design talent on display has left me truly inspired. The showcased works are a testament to the remarkable range of creativity and innovation that exists within today's industry. I was particularly impressed by the sheer number of talented creatives who dared to push the boundaries of their respective disciplines and paid meticulous attention to detail. Their meaningful and original works stood out, captivating the attention of the entire judging panel. The expertise of my fellow judges was clear from the outset and the experience of review, debate and indeed celebration of design altogether was fascinating. It has been a privilege to be able to recognise creative talent and hopefully the awards ignite a spark in designers and inspire them to continue exploring the depths of their imagination and craft, pushing the envelope of design even further.

Jessica Sherratt, Head of UX, Code Computerlove

Personally, I found it fascinating to see the professional application of the creative skills we teach in design education – and to see them indicating how vital and healthy the Scottish Design industry is. The breadth of projects submitted, the levels of skill displayed in the execution of the design projects being judged, and the lively and detailed debate amongst the judges brought home to me just how important awards of this type are – they recognise and celebrate the best of the creative spirit and its application. They honour, but they also inspire. My fellow judges impressed me with their attention to detail, appreciation of technical expertise and celebration of creativity – it was a privilege to share in the deliberations, and a challenge to select winning entries from such a competitive field.

Professor Gordon Hush, Head of The Innovation School, The Glasgow School of Art

The Scottish Design Awards is a unique platform to showcase the work of Scottish designers. The past two years have been extraordinarily difficult for many people which is why it is so positive to see how design has remained at the heart of who we are. The quality of the submission designs is testimony to the continuing creativity and energy of Scotland’s talent. Many submissions prompted important debates on key issues facing our professions - placemaking, energy, housing, social equality, access as well as ambition and vision. There is much to be positive about and celebrate and also much to be done to continue to generate debate and advocacy on the quality of environments we wish to see in the future

Allan Murray, Founding Director, Allan Murray Design

What I loved most was walking away with a new respect for the design industry in Scotland. As a judge, we can sometimes have a very London-centric view of creative work. And that needs to change. So it was brilliant to see equally impactful and outstanding work coming from our neighbours in Scotland. I’ve always been blown away by the level of craft – packaging in particular. This year, it was the turn of the motion and experiential entries. Not only were they beautifully put together, but there was a clear and striking concept at the heart of the work.

Hiten Bhatt, Head of Design, RAPP

A very pleasant day spent chairing the Scottish Design Awards with informed, insightful colleagues. We reviewed a number of extraordinary projects, reaffirming that the standard of architecture and design across all project types by Scottish Architects is very high indeed and in a few cases exceptional.

Prof Alan Dunlop, Alan Dunlop Architect

I was delighted to be asked to judge the Scottish Design Awards this year. The standard of design and detail design was excellent in all Categories making it difficult to shortlist nominations particularly in the residential, public and commercial sectors. It was good to see the number of entries in the “Building re use category” which is encouraging for future sustainability and it was worth noting that the recent world pandemic hadn’t affected the completion of these innovative architectural gems.

Susan Stephen, Consultant Director, 56Three Architects, formerly Susan Stephen Architects

The entries to the Scottish Design Awards were a showcase of Scottish talent exemplifying innovation, renewal and sustainability over a wide range and size of projects. Having the opportunity to be a Judge was an exhilarating experience. There was much unanimity amongst the Judges across the various categories and design approaches demonstrating that exceptional design quality will shine through, enhancing the lives of those that live and occupy these various spaces.”

Annie Hampson, Former Chief Planning Officer, City of London Corporation

As a new judge this year for the Scottish Design Awards it has been encouraging to see first hand both the quality of the projects submitted but also the judging process itself. Whilst there is a wide range of projects submitted across a wider range of architectural categories, the quality generally is excellent with a number of categories where there is little between the top ranking submissions. It’s great to see so many Scottish practices producing such a high calibre of output, even during these strangest of times

Stephen Lewis, Managing Director, HFD Property Group Ltd

I was delighted to be asked and involved in the 2021 judging. It was a rewarding experience that I can describe as “good for the soul” – taking some time out to immerse yourself in others work and be inspired by what is possible. The categories that I particularly enjoyed judging were the “Design for good” and “Moving imagery design/animation”. What great talent we have in Scotland.

Vicki Miller, Director of Marketing & Digital, Visit Scotland

As a first time judge at the awards I was delighted to see not just incredible design craft on display, but bravery in thought and execution from the standout entries. Was I surprised? No. There’s always been an abundance of talent in Scotland, but to see it across a diverse range of creative disciplines was a real privilege to see. Congratulations to all of the worthy winners.

Steve Conchie, Creative Director, Brandon Consultant

The panel were blown away with the high standard of submitted work which will no doubt encourage better architecture and creative design throughout Scottish built environment. The introduction of the young architect of the year, allowed for the achievements of rising stars to be recognised and also encourages ambition, creativity and good work ethic within the architecture and design profession. As the standard of entries was so high some categories sparked great architectural debate!

Marina Strotz, President, Birmingham Architectural Association

This was my first time judging the Scottish Design Awards and I was incredibly impressed with the standard of the entries. Ingenuity, creativity and ambition were very much in evidence across all categories and budget levels with small projects and small budgets being no deterrent, and perhaps even an inventive, to some fierce and fabulous work. Congratulations to all the winners!”

MT Rainey OBE, Directory, Charlotte St Partners, Hays and Clearchannel

Judging the Scottish Design Awards 2020, and acting as chair, was a great experience. It reignited my interest and excitement in commercial, product and advertising design as well as feeding my love of graphic and exhibition design… I really appreciated the variety and quality of submissions, even though it made our job even harder! Some of the entries for individual categories were truly excellent and it was a huge challenge (and heated debate) to select winners. The panel particularly liked hearing about the inspiration behind the entries, how the designers developed and realised the clients’ vision. Some of the entries even provided samples of the work “in the flesh” - this really helped the panel get a sense of the materials used.

Helen Fothergill, Head of Collections, Aberdeen City Council Museums & Galleries

I was impressed with the standard of entries this year and it was really heartening to see in particular the high number of good projects in the educational category. This bodes well for the experience and learning of the next generation. In the regeneration, and in other, categories it was heartening to see some really strong entries that creatively re-used existing buildings. This is vital in the future of architectural practice for sustainability and for the quality and coherence of our towns and cities. I was surprised that by comparison there were fewer entries shortlisted in the affordable homes category and I hope that housing associations and others will fill that gap next year.

Karen Anderson, Founding Partner, Anderson Bell Christie

It was very exciting indeed to be involved with the Scottish Design Awards for the first time. What was immediately striking was the overall quality of design talent and innovative approach that exists within the design community in Scotland, as well as the clear value that clients involved place on good design as a critical part of their business success. This made the judges’ task rewarding and stimulating, and at times very difficult to identify a clear winner amongst the diverse submissions. But what we hope our final choices demonstrate is Scotland’s design community is fizzing with talent!

Philip Long, Director, V&A Dundee

It was a delight to be part of the judging panel for the Scottish Design Awards this year. The discussion was thought provoking and in depth, covering many of the most important topics in architecture today, and the projects were forward looking and considered

Thea McMillan, Design Director, Chambers McMillan Architects

It was a real privilege to be invited to judge the 25th anniversary of the Scottish Design Awards. I was both inspired and blown away by the level of the entries. Good luck to all the nominees!

Leigh Dobson, Client Partner - Digital Services - Leith Agency

An honour to chair the Scottish Design awards alongside a great team of people. The high standards of creativity and craft ran throughout all the categories with a strong sense of original thinking. Great to see excellence shining in areas such as experimental, moving image and animation. Some real benchmark projects.

Dave Roberts, Creative Partner, Superunion

Once again the range and variety of the projects submitted for consideration for the Scottish Design Awards was exceptional – from an apparently simple but technically challenging shelter to major public buildings. The quality of the entries made even the short list difficult to sift out - let alone the final awards. We should be proud of the range and skills of the Architects we have in Scotland.

As a first-time judge I found the whole experience challenging and stimulating with the discussion of each and every entrant fascinating. Each judge brought different experiences to the deliberations and some projects encouraged some very lively discussions! This was a great experience for me and reaffirmed my belief in the very high quality of architectural design in Scotland.

David Narro, Founder, Consultant, David Narro Associates