RIAS/Gilmour & Aitken Client of the Year Award

As well as articulating the brief, a good client can inspire, inform and enlighten the design process and play a fundamental role in its evolution. The RIAS & Gilmour & Aitken Client of the Year Award recognises the client’s crucial role in creating Scotland’s best architecture.

Previous Winners

2026

Friends of Tarlair Community Group for

Tarlair Outdoor Pool Pavilion by Studio Octopi

The remarkable restoration of the Tarlair Outdoor Pool Pavilion demonstrates how sensitive architecture can revive and reactivate a historic site to create cultural, recreational, and community value in a meaningful and enduring way. Throughout this journey, the community group’s dedication has been exemplary, showing energy, determination, and fundraising skill that has been vital to the project’s progress. Their commitment illustrates the impact that an engaged client can have on heritage projects, enabling ambition while preserving authenticity.

2025

Perth & Kinross Council for Riverside Primary School, Perth by Architype

Riverside Primary School is the first Passivhaus-certified school in Scotland, and has been underpinned by a brief to combine the client’s modern and supportive pedagogy with the Passivhaus standard and the use of natural and non-toxic materials. The judges said “it is clear that the client had a bold vision and an aspiration to create a truly sustainable learning environment and this has been successfully delivered on a modest budget, which makes the achievement even more worthy of an award.

2024

Fruitmarket Gallery for

Fruitmarket Gallery by Reiach and Hall Architects

Edinburgh’s popular Fruitmarket Gallery was refurbished and extended, bringing a neighbouring warehouse building into use. The judges described The Fruitmarket Gallery as a passionate client who worked collaboratively with the architects to challenge established norms as to how art can be displayed and received.

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