The Lighthouse

The second stage judging for the third group of design competitions to be built as part of the widely acclaimed Scottish Scenic Routes initiative is now complete, with winners chosen from four entries shortlisted at an earlier round of judging for sites within the Cairngorms National Park at the Devil’s Elbow and Tomintoul adjacent to the AA93 and the A939 respectively. The winners each receive a prize of £5000 and a mentoring package from a Cairngorms National Park Authority design team and the Construction Scotland Innovation Centre.

The winning entrants are as follows:

Devil’s Elbow
Daniel Smith and Philip Zoechbauer

Tomintoul
Angus Ritchie and Daniel Tyler (Processcraft)

The judges also felt that two other projects merited high commendation. These are:

Devil’s Elbow
OHF Studio

Tomintoul
Alex Scott-Whitby and Michael Eleftheriou (Scott-Whitby Studio)

Cabinet Secretary for Rural Affairs, Food and the Environment, Richard Lochhead said:

“Scenic Routes brings together Scotland’s world renowned landscape with emerging design talent.

“Previous phases of this initiative have delivered projects with real impact and I have no doubt that this phase will produce the exceptional quality that Scotland’s landscape deserves.

“Good luck to all the young designers who will have entered their designs. I look forward to visiting the completed projects in Spring 2016, which will be an excellent showcase for Scotland’s Year of Innovation, Architecture and Design.”

Commenting on the results, Brian Wood, Deputy Convener of the Cairngorms National Park Authority (CNPA) Board said:

“I am really pleased that the competition has produced two very creative designs for sites in Glenshee and near Tomintoul. Once constructed these, together with the installation at Corgaff scheduled to be in place in November, will give us an outstanding scenic route along the eastern side of the Cairngorms National Park, from Glenshee to Grantown-on-Spey. This will encourage more people to experience and enjoy the breathtaking landscapes of the Cairngorms.”

No winner was declared for a third competition site at Banavie, where Neptune’s Staircase, Scotland’s longest flight of canal lock gates, forms the entrance to the Caledonian Canal and the Great Glen and provides one of the finest views of Ben Nevis, the UK’s highest mountain. The competition site lies adjacent to Thomas Telford’s famous structure and, after careful consideration and discussion, the independent judging panel, led by Einar Jarmund, senior partner in renowned Oslo practice Jarmund/Vigsnaes AS Arkitekter, chose not to select a winner for this location as, in its view, the three quite different shortlisted proposals were insufficiently robust in addressing the complex range of design challenges and sheer drama and visual impact presented by the surrounding landscape and adjacent world class industrial structure.

Helena Huws, Architect at Scottish Canals, said:

“While on this occasion no winner was declared for Banavie, Scottish Canals is committed to continuing to work with the local community, our partners, and the Scottish Scenic Routes initiative to create a landmark that celebrates the unique character of the area and encourages even more people to explore the many wonders of the canal network.”

In total, some 72 proposals were received for projects at the three different locations and the judging panel, project sponsors and the partners in the Scottish Scenic Routes Initiative wish to recognize and thank all the entrants for their considerable endeavours throughout the competition’s tight two-stage timescale.

For further information please contact scenicroutes@cs-ic.org