Ann Nisbet Studio

We have recently completed a Feasibility Study and design for a new rural community hub in Aberdeenshire for Edzell Woods Community Trust. The community hub is to be a place for Edzell Woods residents to meet, support community cohesion, and health and wellness activities. The project has been submitted to planning and we look forward to progressing with the next steps.

We were delighted to attend the Carradale Community Day on Saturday, to discuss our proposals for the Re-development of Carradale Harbour with the community. We had a wonderful day listening to comments, the needs and ideas of the community. It was fasinating to hear about the history of the Harbour including the old shop, waiting room and the Old Pier House. Thank you to everyone who took time out of there day to come speak with us, for filling out questionnaires and for your wonderful comments and input. We look forward to the next steps, progressing the designs and submitting to planning.

Ann Nisbet Studio have completed a rural Masterplan / Place Plan for a community development of 16 homes and business units for the Applecross Community Company. The Masterplan is deeply inspired by the local context, history and culture of Applecross Peninsula and the wider West Coast Highlands. It aims to create a ‘place to live and a place to connect’ with the community at its core. The proposal weaves traditional patterns, characteristics, and forms of the clachans with the needs of a modern and sustainable community. It seeks to strengthen local identity, foster a strong sense of place and belonging, and further nurture the existing sense of local stewardship.
We have really enjoyed developing this masterplan with the wonderful and inspiring Applecross Community and ACC, we look forward to seeing how our shared vision will be implemented in the following stages of the project.

Wonderful news! Our Modern Farmhouse in Angus has been shortlisted for the Royal Incorporation of Architect’s in Scotland Architecture Awards. We are delighted for our clients Neil and Sandra Caul and the rest of the Caul family! Congratulations to all the members of the team.

We look forward to meeting the RIAS Judging panel and showing them around West Balkello Farm.

More information on the project [click here]

It’s incredible that Cuddymoss has won the Doolan Award for the Best Building in Scotland 2023!

Thank you to the Doolan Family, the The Royal Incorporation of Architects in Scotland, and the judging panel Ellie Strathaki, Tracy Meller and Chris Stewart for the recognition and for your wonderful comments:

“It’s a project that the jury felt came as close to perfection for its typology as we’ve seen,”

Congratulations to the team involved and all the sub-contractors and suppliers involved in the project. Thanks to North Ayrshire Planning & Building Control for their support.

It was such a privilege to work with our client on this project. His ideas about being a custodian rather than the owner of the ruin, set the direction for this whole project. It has been a truly wonderful experience.

Cuddymoss was explored through the idea of custodianship rather than ownership. Therefore, there is a strong focus on reuse of the existing building and making use of what materials are already available. The project incorporates ideas around circular economy, reuse, adaptability and demount ability all of which seems very timely in a climate emergency.

We could not think of a better way to celebrate the studio’s tenth year, than for Cuddymoss to be the first one-off house to win the Andrew Doolan Award for Best Building in Scotland.

The Masterplan envisages Dundashill as a new place to live defined by landscaped streets and paths that stitch together spaces for the new community to enjoy, from play areas, shared gardens and viewing platforms to street art murals and a new central square.

Maltings Wynd is Phase Two of the development and includes 35 townhouses designed by Ann Nisbet Studio. Construction started in January 2023 and will finish in Spring 2025, with first handovers from early Spring 2024.

More information can be found here

We are delighted that our Cuddymoss project has been recognised in the longlist for the Dezeen Awards. It’s wonderful to see our project alongside an international longlist of projects, including Mexico, Germany, Chile, New Zealand, Spain and Austria.

Longlisted projects have been selected from over 4,800 entries from 94 countries for the sixth edition of Dezeen Awards, which celebrates the world’s best architecture, interiors and design, as well as studios and individuals producing the most outstanding work.

More information on the longlist here

We are delighted to be one of six teams shortlisted for the Orkney’s Creative Catalyst competition. Our team includes: Narro Associates (Structural Engineer), Rybka (Mechanical Engineer), Fiona Sinclair (Conservation). We are very much looking forward to visiting Orkney and the wonderful Pier Art Centre, the Old Post Office Building and Linkshouse in the next few weeks.

The Pier Arts Centre in Stromness, Orkney was established in 1979 to provide a home for an important collection of British fine art donated by the author, peace activist and philanthropist Margaret Gardiner (1904 – 2005). 

The permanent collection includes works by major 20th Century artists Barbara Hepworth, Ben Nicholson and Alfred Wallis, amongst others, as well as contemporary art by Sean Scully, Eva Rothschild and Olafur Eliasson. The collection also includes local artists including Sylvia Wishart and Stanley Cursiter. 

Patrick Heron described the collection as “One of the most distinguished and perfect smaller collections of 20th century art on permanent display anywhere in the world”

More information on Pier Art Centre

It’s such an honour for Cuddymoss to be shortlisted for the prestigious RIAS Doolan Award for Scotland’s best new building. We are delighted for our client, the rest of the design team, main contractor and everyone else who collaborated on the project.

This is the 21st year of the RIAS Doolan Award, which carries a £10,000 prize. The award was established in 2002 to celebrate Scotland’s best new building and named after its patron, architect and developer Andrew Doolan, who died in 2004.

The jury for the 2023 award is chaired by RSHP senior partner Tracy Meller, Wallpaper* architecture editor Ellie Stathaki, and RIAS president Chris Stewart.

‘We have a tough job to select a winner from the four outstanding buildings on this year’s Doolan Award shortlist,’ said Meller. ‘Whether unlocking a tricky urban challenge or doing justice to a remarkable rural setting, each has a superb relationship with its context. Their clients’ briefs could not be more different, and yet each building demonstrates exceptional imagination, skill and flair.’

The winner will be announced on 30 November.

Thanks to the Architects’ Journal for featuring us in this month’s Glasgow issue with the ‘Glasgow’s young guns come of age’ article. The interview was a great opportunity to pause and reflect on the last 6 years.

Our Glendale: Harmless House project is featured in Homes and Interior Scotland Magazine. Caroline Ednie has written a lovely piece on the project based on interviews with our client Kathy Li.

The article is now available online and can be read here:

We are delighted that our ‘Glendale Cottage: The Harmless House’ project has been shortlisted for a Stirling Society of Architects Award. The building will be visited by the judging panel later this month.

We are delighted that our ‘Cuddymoss’ Project won the GIA Residential Award on Friday night at a ceremony held at the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Glasgow.

The Judge’s commented: ”Ann Nisbet Studio has transformed an isolated rubble farmhouse ruin into a modest yet remarkable example of contemporary residential architecture. Appropriately austere in its visual landscape, the house achieves an attractively severe elegance, both inside and out. 

Cuddymoss is a perfect house for a bird watcher and is clearly loved by the client. ”

Congratulations and thanks to our client, and the rest of the team involved in the project.

Photo Credit: David Barbour

Bigg Regeneration is taking forward the next phase of development at Dundashill, Glasgow, with the submission of plans for 79-canalside homes.

The joint venture body owned by Scottish Canals and PfP Capital, managed by Igloo Regeneration, is delivering a broader 600-home masterplan for the hilltop site.

Ann Nisbet Studio has conceived a modern interpretation of industrial space, referencing the history of the site as a former distillery with a dedicated home working space on the top floor. Stallan Brand architects have designed a mix of open plan townhouses for the site, with the emphasis on flexibility

More information can be found here

We are delighted to have received planning for a new build house and annex in Ayrshire. The project consists of three volumnes formed around a number of courtyard spaces of varying sizes. The proposed house is clad in zinc and timber cladding.

Delighted to have received Planning Approval for the renovation and extension of an existing ruined house and outbuilding in the National Park.

The existing cottage has significant structural issues and unfortunatly cannot be saved and therefore will have to be removed and replaced. Existing materials such as slate and stone will be salvaged and reused in the new house and landscaping.

The existing stone barn is to be retained, repaired and converted into the main living spaces for the new house.

We have now been given the go ahead to produce the working drawings and Building Warrant Packages. This project is due to commence on site in late summer 2022

We are delighted that our Mobile Micro Home in the Isle of Skye has won an RIAS Award for Architecture. Congratulations and thanks to our client Ali, Michael MacKinnon Joinery ( Main Contractor) Design Team and the rest of the team involved in the project.

Christina Gaiger, the RIAS president, said: “The covid-19 pandemic has highlighted the importance of our built environment to individuals and communities, and the RIAS Awards are a moment to pause and celebrate the incredible difference that architects are making across the country.

“This year’s RIAS awards demonstrate the critical role architecture can play – whether that is delivering better homes and public services, addressing climate change, celebrating our shared culture and heritage, or simply giving moments of real delight. There is a real breadth in this year’s clutch of RIAS Awards, and each of them is a very worthy winner.”

Photo Credit: David Barbour

We are delighted to receive planning on this zinc and timber clad new house in the Lanarkshire landscape. This building gentle curves around the site allowing views to be captured on all sides of the new house. The form provides a sheltered outdoor space, which is accessed from key rooms in the house.

The materials zinc and siberian larch rain screen cladding emulate those commonly found in the rural landscape.

The Building Warrant and Construction packages are now under way and the project will commence on site in early 2022.

Construction has commenced on our Garden House in Dumfries. The new house is located in a mature garden and is formed from four brick clad volumes, which create private garden spaces and courtyards in the ‘in between’ spaces.

The new house is due to be completed in Autumn 2021

Further information on the project can be found in the ‘Work’ section