The proud architecture of Scotland has always reflected social movements, imitated prevailing ideas and influenced design trends across the world. Today, Scottish architecture has to work even harder to provide solutions to some very complex issues that we face; using design to improve this country’s health outcomes, reduce social isolation, foster learning and social mobility, and to bolster economic regeneration.

When visitors cross the threshold of Heriot Watt’s new university campus in Dubai, they leave behind the searing heat of the desert for climate-controlled comfort, where diffused lighting offers relief from the harsh glare of the sun.

In such an extreme environment, where summer temperatures can reach 50C, this alone would create a sense of ease, but it is just the first in a series of subtle features and carefully considered themes that run like a green thread through every level of the campus.