May 2008
Venice Biennale 2008
On 1st May 2008, it was announced that Gareth Hoskins Architects won the competition to design the ‘Gathering Space’, Scotland’s first standalone pavilion at the Venice Architecture Biennale 2008. GHA saw off competition from over 50 Scottish architectural practices to win the project which is backed by the Lighthouse and the Scottish Government.



The design, based on an original idea from Elisa Yon, consists of a set of stairs that will be constructed entirely from sustainable or resourced timber. Underneath the stairs, there will be an indoor area that will hold up to 100 people, and the outside steps will become a gathering space for up to 200 people. Situated in a major piazza during the first week of the Venice Biennale 2008, the pavilion will be used for seminars, organised events and informal gatherings.

The preview for the 2008 Venice Biennale will take place on 11th, 12th and 13th September, with the exhibition running from 14th September to 23rd November 2008.

April 2008
Grand Opening of Culloden


On 16th April 2008, the 262nd anniversary of the battle, Gareth Hoskins Architects’ Culloden Battlefield Visitor Centre was officially opened by two young boys who are direct descendents of soldiers who fought in the battle. The £9.3 million project is the largest ever undertaken by the National Trust for Scotland, and it is an important cultural asset for Scotland. It is anticipated that the centre will not only attract visitors from Scotland, but from around the globe.

RIBA Award Nomination
The Culloden Battlefield Visitor Centre was recently short-listed for a prestigious RIBA award. Alexander Bennet, the NTS’ project co-ordinator said, “The nomination is a testament to the vision of the team at Gareth Hoskins Architects in creating a building that blends with the surrounding landscape, providing the ideal home for presenting the story of a battle that changed the course of history.” A jury will visit Culloden in April, and the winners are due to be announced at the end of May.

The project was also short-listed in two categories at the Scottish Design Awards.

Lerwick Planning Go-Ahead


Mareel, Lerwick’s new cinema and music venue, was granted planning permission on 16th April 2008. The project is programmed to start on site in August 2008 and due for completion in February 2010.

Mareel will be an important and welcome addition to the range of high quality cultural facilities available across Scotland, and its extensive technological capability will also ensure that it can reach out to the whole of Shetland and beyond.

March 2008
Ardrishaig Regeneration Win


In March as a result of a limited design competition Gareth Hoskins Architects were commissioned as architects for the regeneration of Ardrishaig for development company H2O which is a partnership of British Waterways and Kilmartin. The site by the Crinnan Canal on the banks of Loch Fyne on the West Coast of Scotland will provide 150 residential units, retail, leisure, heritage and marina facilities. GHA will first develop the initial economic appraisal for the area into a strategic framework and detailed masterplan for the regeneration of the town.

February 2008
Northern Ireland PPCI Framework Success
In February a team including Gareth Hoskins Architects successfully won a competition to provide architectural services in an exemplar design framework agreement for new primary care services in Northern Ireland. The first project within the framework will be a £14M health centre in Ballymena. The project is expected to start in May.

News From 2007
The Roses Award for the Bridge Arts Centre
At a ceremony in Manchester on 18 October 2007, the Bridge received the Best Public Building Silver Award. The Arts Centre, which has recently received a host of awards, is also shortlisted for the prestigious RIAS Andrew Doolan Award for the Best Building in Scotland.

BCI Regeneration Award for the Bridge Arts Centre
The Bridge Arts Centre in Easterhouse picked up the Regeneration Award at the British Construction Industry (BCI) Awards ceremony in London on 10 October 2007. The criteria for the award were:

‘For a project of any size which has made a significant contribution to the regeneration of an under-privileged area or the creation of new facilities or accommodation which has made exceptional use of brownfield sites’.

The judges comments read ‘six years in the planning, the centre has created a great community resource against the odds and with limited financial resource’ and ‘An intelligent choice of materials responds to the varied uses of the interior spaces.’

The Bridge, also a finalist for the ‘BCI Prime Minister’s Better Public Building Award and BCI Building Award, was the only Scottish project represented at the national awards.

Double Awards Success for Play Park
Grounds for Play at Bellahouston Park was awarded ‘Best Design of a Play Experience’ at the Nancy Ovens Play Awards on 08 September 2007. This is the second major award for the project this year, which also recently received a Street Design Award from Local Government News in their play category.

Awards Success
The Bridge Arts Centre in Easterhouse, Glasgow has won an RIBA Regional Award 2007 and was the only Scottish project to win a prestigious RIBA National Award 2007.  The Bridge was described as ‘sensational and stunning’ and as a truly accessible project that represented ‘urban regeneration at its most powerful’. 

The project now goes on to the prestigious RIBA Stirling Prize Awards mid-shortlist and is the only Scottish project to be short listed for the Prime Minister’s Better Public Buildings Award.

Gareth Hoskins Architects scooped top prize at the 2007 Scottish Design Awards in Glasgow, receiving the 'Architecture Grand Prix' for The Bridge arts centre. The Centre also picked up the award for 'Best Public Building'.  There was further success at the Scottish Design Awards for GHA, as Sarah Murphy from the office won 'Emerging Architect of the Year' award.

Junior High School, Mid Yell, Shetland - Planning Approved
Following an intensive nine month design and consultation process, our proposals for the new £ 7.5m Mid Yell Junior High School, received Planning Permission on the 21st May. A key part of the design process were the regular design workshops and consultation events with the pupils, staff and local community. The innovative design, will provide an inspirational building and valuable sustainable resource for the whole local community.

St Andrew Square, Edinburgh - Planning Approved
This major mixed use development of office, residential and retail units designed by Gareth Hoskins Architects and CDA for client ING Real Estate Investment Management (UK), won full planning approval on the 28th March 07. 

Located within Edinburgh’s New Town and World Heritage Site the proposal for 3 -8 St Andrew Square and 7-12 South St David Street, which will involve the partial demolition of the former Scottish Provident headquarters buildings whilst retaining and restoring important grade A & B listed buildings on the site, is set to make a significant contribution to the renewal of this part of the city. (See Aug 2006 news)

Greyfriars - Planning Approved
Greyfriars Community Project, located in the historic Old Town of Edinburgh, successfully received planning approval on the 28th February 07.  This mixed use development for Hillcrest Housing Association will replace the unlisted Greyfriars Kirkhouse, its adjacent yard and two redundant and derelict industrial buildings.  The development will provide social housing, counseling and support spaces for the homeless, wood workshop, training kitchen, daytime café and arts and performance facilities. 

Phase 2 of the Community Centre for Health - Planning Approved
The Community Centre for Health in Partick, Glasgow successfully received planning approval on the 19th February 2007.  The £2.6m Phase II development will see the extension of the existing building along Sandy Road, and will accommodate GP, mental health and children’s health facilities.

Museum of Modern Art, Warsaw
Despite a bold design, Gareth Hoskins Architects along with the 3 other short-listed UK entrants were  unsuccessful in the competition to design a new 35,0000m² museum of Modern and Contemporary Art in the Polish capital. The site for the new Museum lies at the historic centre of Warsaw adjacent to the Palace of Culture, between a public square and landscaped park.

GHA’s approach was to challenge the idea of a traditional museum. Rather than a single building, housing traditional ‘black box’ gallery spaces, we created a framed structure of interconnected, flexible galleries. The building was conceived as a street connecting the square and park and blurring the boundaries between ‘inside’ and ‘out’, whilst the galleries and exhibition spaces were positioned as a series of individual elements, scattered within the landscape. (See Nov 2006 news)

News From 2006
Housing in Haddington receives planning permission
Gareth Hoskins Architects together with George Wimpey East Scotland have been working for over two years on a housing development in Haddington, East Lothian. The proposal, which consists of both affordable and luxury housing received a unanimous vote from the planning committee and was noted as a model application for a residential development. Click here for more information on Haddington Housing Project.

Double award win at the GIA Design Awards 2006
The Bridge arts centre and Robin House children's hospice have both received design awards from the Glasgow Institute of Architects. The awards were presented at a ceremony on Friday 16th November.

The Bridge Short-listed for The Best Building in Scotland Award
Gareth Hoskins Architects' recently completed Arts Centre, The Bridge for Easterhouse Cultural Campus, has been short-listed for the RIAS Andy Doolan Award - The Best Building in Scotland.

Gareth Hoskins Architects wins a UK Architect of the Year Award
Gareth Hoskins Architects has won the award as "Health Architect of the Year" at the national Building Design Awards ceremony in London. It is the first time this national Award has been won by a Scottish based practice and was given on the basis the practice's work as a whole.

GHA Short-listed for International Museum Competition
GHA are one of only four British practices short-listed for the new £38M National Museum of Modern Art in Warsaw. Final submission of design ideas due February 2007.

Office Trip to Berlin
Accompanied by family and friends, GHA staff enjoyed a well deserved break this October taking in the sights of Berlin.

Greyfriars Community Project in for Planning
Following extensive consultation with City of Edinburgh planning officials the planning application for Greyfriars Community Project was registered on 5 September 2006. The proposals incorporate a homeless drop-in centre with canteen, workshop, consultation rooms, community hall and 16no. social housing flats. The project seeks to offer an inclusive facility that will replace the existing centre and warehouses currently occupying the site on Candlemaker Row in Edinburgh's Old Town. The client partners in the project, Greyfriars Kirk and Hillcrest Housing Association, are keen to ensure the project builds on the important homeless work already being carried out in the area and benefits the community as a whole.

Gareth Hoskins Announced as Scottish Healthcare Design Champion for A+DS
As part of a 3 year framework deal between Architecture and Design Scotland (A+DS) and the Scottish Executive Health Department, A+DS has appointed Gareth Hoskins as the new Scottish Healthcare Design Champion. This role involves the strategic leadership of the design champions' network in NHSScotland and is part of a broader plan to drive forward the design agenda with NHSScotland and raise the ambition and design quality of healthcare projects throughout Scotland.

St Andrew Square Development in for Planning
Following careful and detailed consultations with major stakeholders including City of Edinburgh Council, Historic Scotland, The Cockburn Association, Edinburgh World Heritage, and Architecture & Design Scotland, Gareth Hoskins Architects and Edinburgh based architectural practice CDA have submitted a joint planning application for the redevelopment of 3 -8 St Andrew Square and 7-12 South St David Street, Edinburgh.

The development is on the site of the derelict Scottish Provident HQ, at the southwest corner of St Andrew Square, close to the Edinburgh landmarks of Jenners Department Store and the Scott Monument. Located within a World Heritage Site, the proposal for client ING (UK) Property is to provide a major mixed use development of office, residential and retail units and will give a new lease of life to a building, which is regarded by many as a modernist icon.

Hoskins Wins Music & Cinema Venue in Lerwick
Gareth Hoskins Architects, have won a limited competition with the Lerwick based architectural practice Peter Johnson Partnership, to design a new £7.1M Cinema and Music Venue, for Shetland Island Council.

The new Cinema and Music Venue, will be situated on a prominent waterfront site adjacent to the historic Hays Dock area and will provide a 300 seat multi-use auditorium, 160 seat cinema, 90 seat cinema, café bar, recording studio, rehearsal facilities, education rooms, media spaces, support facilities and other public facilities.

This is the second project that the practice has won in Shetland in as many months.