AHR's Passivhaus Templehall Community Hub shortlisted twice at GIA Design Awards 2026

AHR's Templehall Community Hub in Fife has been shortlisted in both the Sustainability and Leisure & Arts categories at the Glasgow Institute of Architects (GIA) Design Awards 2026, the practice announced on 10 November.

Fife Council commissioned the Passivhaus Classic-certified hub to bring three ageing facilities, including a youth hub formerly housed in the Argos Centre, together in a single building, AHR said. The practice described it as the council's first Passivhaus community building.

Judges visited the shortlisted buildings during October, and winners will be announced at the awards dinner at Cottiers in Glasgow on 19 November 2026, according to AHR.

Stuart Bryson, Project Director, Glasgow, at AHR, said: "Our goal from the very beginning was to create a healthy, uplifting space where local people feel welcomed and inspired."

The building

AHR said the hub achieved an airtightness result of 0.42 air changes per hour, and that post-occupancy monitoring has confirmed the building is performing as designed.

The structure uses a lower-carbon steel frame with concrete containing ground granulated blast-furnace slag (GGBS), according to AHR's project page. The practice said materials salvaged from the former Argos Centre, the youth hub previously on the site, were reused, with timber beams from the old youth hub turned into planters and fencing from a decommissioned school repurposed elsewhere on site.

Facilities include a main hall, library, teaching kitchen, cafe, youth club, computer suite, community garden, allotments and a multi-use games area, AHR said. Walking and cycling routes link the hub to the AHR-designed Fair Isle Family Nurture Centre.

AHR provided architecture, interior design, landscape design and principal designer services on the project.

Background

AHR announced the scheme had gone in for planning on 29 November 2024. At that stage Jamie Gregory, Project Architect and Certified Passivhaus Designer at AHR, said the hub was designed to target Passivhaus Classic certification.

AHR's other Passivhaus-certified projects include Woodmill and St Columba's RC High School, The Pheasantry, 1 - 21 St Cuthberts and Cameron Close, the practice said. AHR works across nine UK offices, including Glasgow, and traces its history to 1835.

The awards

The GIA said its awards are open to chartered architects, individuals or practices based in the GIA chapter area, and that eligible buildings must have completed in the 18 months before September 2026.

Judging took place over October with shortlisted buildings visited by the judges, the institute said, and all entries and shortlisted entries are to be published on its website before the ceremony.

The ceremony takes place on Thursday 19 November 2026 at Cottiers, according to the GIA.