A NUCLEAR power station, a disused colliery and an office block built in the 1980s are some of the latest buildings to be ranked among the cream of Scotland??s architectural heritage.

They may lack the grandeur of a stately home or the pomp of a castle, but Scotland??s most senior architects believe Torness power station in East Lothian, Thornton Colliery in Fife and the Norwich Union headquarters in Perth should be given listed status.

The buildings, regarded as some of the most important examples of 20th-century Scottish architecture, have been nominated for listing by members of the Royal Incorporation of Architects in Scotland (RIAS). They will now be considered by Historic Scotland, which awards special protection to buildings of particular architectural or historical merit.

Torness power station, near Dunbar, was nominated by Malcolm Fraser, the award-winning Edinburgh architect. Fraser admits the building, which was designed by Howard Lobb, fills him with dread, describing it as ??a lump that, however it is chopped up and buried, will be malignant for an age??.

But he adds: ??I cannot deny its power and beauty . . . it plays huge, grey shimmering abstract tricks with the sky, the light and the cloud.??

Although it has been partly demolished, Thornton Colliery, near Glenrothes, has been recommended by Mark Chalmers, the Aberdeen-based architect, for its ??fantastic concrete ventilation shafts, which are like escapees from Brasilia??.

The Norwich Union headquarters in Perth, designed by the Parr Partnership in Dundee, has also been put forward by Chalmers for its ??earth-sheltered, topographical approach to building that is still unique in Scotland??.

One of the most controversial buildings on the list, recommended by Fraser, is a bonded warehouse in the Gorgie district of Edinburgh, which has been earmarked for demolition after being condemned as a concrete monstrosity by heritage groups and local residents. The North British Distillery Company warehouse, which was built in the 1950s, is due to be torn down and replaced with a supermarket and housing development.

Defending his choice, Fraser said: ??If it is ugly then it is ugly in the same way that the keep of a great castle is ugly: big, glowering, uncompromising and impregnable. And as a warehouse for maturing whisky, it is as distinctly representative of our culture as one of our great castles is.??

However, David McDonald, director of the Cockburn Association, Edinburgh??s civic trust, admitted its ??architectural merits to the common eye are questionable??.

Other proposals include the Dundee Contemporary Arts Centre designed by the Edinburgh-based Richard Murphy Architects, and the Burrell Collection complex in Glasgow, designed by Barry Gasson.

The Museum of Scotland in Edinburgh, designed by Benson & Forsyth, is also listed along with the Lochay power station at Glen Lochay, Perthshire, which is lauded as the ??last attempt that anyone has made to abstract the essence of Scottish architecture??.

The Paisley civic centre, recently turned down for A-listed status by Historic Scotland, has been put forward again by James Cuthbertson, of Glasgow-based Cuthbertson Architects. The buildings are the headquarters of Renfrewshire council and have been hailed as ??radical and influential??. The council plans to demolish part of the complex and refurbish the rest.

??There is no doubt that many of today??s new Scottish buildings will in time become as well loved and protected as their many predecessors,?? said John Pelan, deputy secretary of the RIAS.

Richard Emerson, chief inspector for historic buildings at Historic Scotland, welcomed the suggestions, but warned that a campaign to grant listed status to Torness could run into opposition. ??The problem is going to be objections from people who think that a nuclear power is wrong.??

Times Recommends

• Swine flu vaccine for all as drug rushed through
• Artificial sperm and the race to build a baby
• BBC jets out stars to tout for prizes