News

Nucleus named Scotland’s Best Building 2018

The NDA archive Nucleus: the Nuclear and Caithness Archives has collected another prestigious award after being named the best building in Scotland by one of the industry’s professional bodies. 

Designed by Edinburgh-based Reiach and Hall Architects, its success made it a contender for the RIAS Andrew Doolan Best Building in Scotland Award, named after the celebrated Scottish architect who worked on numerous city regeneration projects. 

The award, established in 2002 to celebrate the best buildings in Scotland, is one of the largest architectural prizes in the world and is supported by the Doolan family as well as the Scottish Government. 

Simon Tucker, the NDA’s Head of Information Governance, said: 

“We are absolutely delighted that Nucleus has been named as this year’s best building in Scotland. Visually, it is extremely striking, and is also a fantastic operational facility, purpose-built for the preservation and storage of our nuclear records, as well as those from Caithness.” 

One of the earlier citations noted: 

“The judges unanimously felt that this was an impressive industrial building which created an ethereal and beautifully sculpted building. Security issues in the design of the landscape did not detract from the panel’s view that this was an excellent building. The relationship of the building to the historic context of the site and the adjacent wartime airfield are beautifully articulated, together with the references to the Caithness context of lochs and a difficult climate.”