Press release

Queen Margaret University campus shortlisted for architectural award

26 February,2008: Queen Margaret University’s new East Lothian campus has been shortlisted for a prestigious award from the Edinburgh Architectural Association (EAA). The EAA Awards are designed to create a showcase for the Edinburgh Architectural profession to demonstrate its skills and its contribution to the environment and the economy. The academic building at the £105 million campus project was designed by Dyer Architects and is shortlisted for the Building of the Year Award.

Queen Margaret University’s campus is regarded as one of Scotland’s most sustainable and provides a vibrant academic village centred on high-tech buildings set within attractive parkland spaces. The buildings are laid out to encourage collaborative working, with high tech teaching spaces, and flexible laboratories and clinics all drawing on the most modern IT system.

Queen Margaret University Vice Principal Rosalyn Marshall said;

“We are very pleased to have been shortlisted for this award. Dyer has succeeded not only in meeting all our practical requirements for a new academic building but in creating spaces that have positively encouraged the spirit of collaboration critical to the future development of the institution. It’s a building that not only meets high environmental standards and has met with positive feedback from students and staff alike who work here, but it reflects an appropriate image of a dynamic new university for Scotland in the 21 st century.”

The university was awarded a Building Research Establishment's Environmental Assessment Method (BREEAM) rating of “excellent” for the development with the highest score recorded of any university project in the UK. BREEAM has been used to assess the environmental performance of both new and existing buildings. It is regarded by the UK's construction and property sectors as the measure of best practice in environmental design and management.

The EAA Awards highlight the excellent work undertaken within the Chapter Area and by Edinburgh Architects in general. Short-listed entries will be displayed and the winners will be announced and presented with their awards at the Chapter's Annual Ball on the 14 March 2008 which will be held in The Balmoral Hotel, Edinburgh.

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For information contact Maggie Wright on 0131 226 3622 or 07801 710360