The renovated Union Terrace Gardens in Aberdeen by architecture studios Stallan-Brand and LDA Design, which are shortlisted for the RIAS Andrew Doolan Best Building in Scotland Award, feature in this video by Jim Stephenson.

The film forms part of a series being published by Dezeen in collaboration with the Royal Incorporation of Architects in Scotland (RIAS) to highlight the annual award’s 2025 shortlist.

In the video, viewers are introduced to the public-realm regeneration project by Stallan-Brand and LDA Design, which encompassed the revival of an 1870s garden alongside the addition of new bridges and three “lantern-like” pavilions.

Union Terrace GardensUnion Terrace Gardens has been shortlisted for the RIAS Andrew Doolan Best Building in Scotland Award

Stallan-Brand senior architect Rowan Morrice and Aberdeen City Council senior planner Laura Robertson highlighted the project’s positive impact on the local community and its role as “a catalyst for the wider improvements to the city centre”.

“What really tied the scheme together is that the landscape scheme had the place for the architecture, civil engineering [and] heritage that took all of the elements of the gardens that were successful and made them better,” Morrice said.

“The pavilions were added into the landscape to provide attractive uses that would bring people into the gardens,” he continued.


Fairburn Tower by Simpson & Brown

Simpson & Brown revives 16th-century Fairburn Tower in Scottish Highlands

Established in 2002, the Andrew Doolan Best Building in Scotland Award is an annual award that highlights Scottish projects, with year’s winner set to be announced on 5 December.

This year’s four-strong shortlist features projects that “celebrate architecture’s place alongside other disciplines”, the the award body said, and ranges from rural infrastructure projects to urban public-realm initiatives.

Shortlisted alongside Union Terrace Gardens is the renovation of the historic Fairburn Tower by Simpson & Brown, the Gairnshiel Jubilee Bridge by Moxon Architects and The Nucleus Building by Sheppard Robson.

The film and photography is courtesy of Jim Stephenson. 

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