Carbuncle Awards

Not to be confused with Carbuncle Cup.

The Carbuncle Awards were architecture prizes, presented by the Scottish magazine Urban Realm (formerly Prospect) to buildings and areas in Scotland intermittently from 2000-2015.^[1]

They were established following a discussion about why policy initiatives to improve the quality of the built environment seemed to be having so little impact beyond the centres of Scotland's key cities.^[2]

The name of the awards was derived from a comment by Prince Charles, an outspoken critic of modern architecture, who in 1984 described Ahrends Burton Koralek's proposed extension of London's National Gallery as a "monstrous carbuncle on the face of a much-loved and elegant friend".^[3][4]

There were three award categories:

• Plook on the Plinth Award "for the most dismal town in Scotland". A "plook" is a Scottish noun for pimple.
• The Pock Mark Award "for the worst planning decision".
• The Zit Building Award "for the worst building completed since the last awards".

Public nominations were made via the magazine's website, with a small group of critics selecting the final winners.

Cumbernauld in North Lanarkshire won the Plook on the Plinth Award twice and was the town most frequently nominated for the award.

The Carbuncle Awards inspired the Carbuncle Cup, another architecture prize launched in 2006 which was given annually by Building Design magazine to "the ugliest building in the United Kingdom completed in the last 12 months".^[5] The latter went on to achieve somewhat greater prominence in the media, and was last held in 2018.

Winners

Plook on the Plinth Award

Year	Winner	Also Shortlisted
2000	Airdrie	Cumbernauld, Campbeltown, Ardrossan and Balloch^[6]
2001	Cumbernauld	Gretna, Aviemore, Dumbarton and two areas of Edinburgh^[7]
2005	Cumbernauld^[8]^[9]	Cowdenbeath, Dalkeith, Ardrossan, Greenock and Granton (north Edinburgh)
2007	Coatbridge^[10]^[11]^[12]	—
2009	Glenrothes^[13]^[14]^[15]	New Cumnock and Motherwell^[16]
2010	John o' Groats / Denny^[17]^[18]^[19]^[20]^[21]^[22]	East Kilbride, Inverness and Lochgelly^[23]
2011	Linwood^[24]^[25]^[26]	Nairn and Fort William^[27]
2013	New Cumnock^[28]^[29]	Broxburn, Fort William, Kirkintilloch, Motherwell, Newmilns and Paisley^[30]^[31]
2015	Aberdeen^[32]^[33]^[34]	Cumbernauld, East Kilbride and Leven

Notes:

• The shortlist section includes the towns that were in consideration for the award by Urban Realm.
• The 2010 award was passed to runners-up Denny, after original winners John o' Groats refused it.
• The 2005 judging panel included the artist Richard Demarco and the Sunday Herald's associate editor Alan Taylor.
• The 2011 judging panel included architecture critic Mark Chalmers and Urban Realm editor John Glenday

 

Cumbernauld, winner of the Carbuncle Award in 2001 and 2005

The Zit Building Award

Year	Winner	Shortlist
2000	UGC, now Cineworld in Glasgow	—
2001	Maternity hospital at Glasgow Royal Infirmary	Edinburgh Business Plaza The Exchange, Haymarket railway station
2005	The Pinnacle Building, Glasgow	—
2011	Menie Clubhouse^[35]	Fraserburgh Pool and Invergordon Fabrication shed
2015	Edinburgh Airport eastern terminal expansion	—

See also

• Carbuncle Cup
• Cumbernauld
• Urban Realm

References

1. "Carbuncles". urbanrealm.com. Retrieved 2014-09-04.
2. "The Carbuncle Awards 2005". urbanrealm.com. Retrieved 2014-09-04.
3. Glancey, Jonathan (17 May 2004). "Life after carbuncles" – via The Guardian.
4. . Archived from the original on 2007-09-27. Retrieved 2014-09-04.
5. Watson, Anna (22 July 2010). "Six in race for Carbuncle Cup". bdonline.co.uk. Retrieved 2014-09-04.
6. "Dismal distinction for Airdrie". bbc.co.uk. 20 November 2000. Retrieved 2014-09-04.
7. "Cumbernauld wins carbuncle award". news.bbc.co.uk. 21 November 2001. Retrieved 2014-09-04.
8. "The Carbuncle Awards 2005". urbanrealm.com. 2005. Retrieved 2014-09-04.
9. "Plook on the Plinth Award 2005". urbanrealm.com. 2005. Retrieved 2014-09-05.
10. "The Carbuncle Awards 2007". urbanrealm.com. 2007. Retrieved 2014-09-04.
11. "Carbuncle 'crown' for Coatbridge". bbc.co.uk. 26 November 2007. Retrieved 2014-09-12.
12. "Plook on the Plinth Award 2007". urbanrealm.com. 2007. Retrieved 2014-09-05.
13. "The Carbuncle Awards 2009". urbanrealm.com. 2009. Retrieved 2014-09-05.
14. "'Depressed' town wins Plook award". bbc.co.uk. 29 January 2009. Retrieved 2014-09-12.
15. "Plook on the Plinth Award 2009". urbanrealm.com. 2009. Retrieved 2014-09-05.
16. "The Carbuncle Awards 2009 : Carbuncles : Architecture in profile the building environment in Scotland - Urban Realm".
17. "John O'Groats named Scotland's most dismal town". urbanrealm.com. 2010. Retrieved 2014-09-12.
18. "Carbuncle Award goes to John O'Groats". bbc.co.uk. 10 September 2010. Retrieved 2014-09-12.
19. "Denny residents accept Plook after John O'Groats rejection". urbanrealm.com. 2010. Retrieved 2014-09-12.
20. "Denny residents lobby for 'most dismal town in Scotland' award". theguardian.com. 2010. Retrieved 2014-09-12.
21. "The Carbuncle Awards 2010". urbanrealm.com. 2010. Retrieved 2014-09-05.
22. "Plook on the Plinth Award 2010". urbanrealm.com. 2010. Retrieved 2014-09-05.
23. "The Carbuncle Awards 2010 : Carbuncles : Architecture in profile the building environment in Scotland - Urban Realm".
24. "The Carbuncle Awards 2011". urbanrealm.com. 2011. Retrieved 2014-09-10.
25. "Linwood wins 'dismal' town award". bbc.co.uk. 15 December 2011. Retrieved 2014-09-12.
26. "Plook on the Plinth Award 2011". urbanrealm.com. 2011. Retrieved 2014-09-10.
27. "Carbuncle Awards". glasgowarchitecture. Retrieved 6 February 2015.
28. "The Carbuncle Awards 2013". urbanrealm.com. 2013. Retrieved 2014-09-10.
29. "New Cumnock wins Carbuncle award". bbc.co.uk. 28 March 2013. Retrieved 2014-09-12.
30. "Carbuncle Awards: What is Scotland's ugliest town?". The Scotsman.
31. "Plook on the Plinth Award 2013". urbanrealm.com. 2013. Retrieved 2014-09-10.
32. "Plook on the Plinth Award 2014". urbanrealm.com. 2014. Retrieved 2014-10-20.
33. "Carbuncle Awards: Aberdeen named Scotland's most dismal town". BBC News. 2015-02-03.
34. "City leaders hit back at Aberdeen's Carbuncle Award - Evening Express". 3 February 2015.
35. "Trump clubhouse handed zit award". Urban Realm. 22 December 2011. Retrieved 6 February 2015.