Dubliner Niall McLaughlin awarded Royal Gold Medal for architecture

Irish architect Niall McLaughlin has been given a highly regarded award in recognition of his “thoughtful, well-crafted” designs and work as an educator.

The Dubliner said he was delighted to receive the 2026 Royal Gold Medal for architecture – a high honour in the field that is bestowed on behalf of the King.

The Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) announced on Thursday that Mr McLaughlin will receive the award, describing his work as having a “remarkable consistency” and “shaped by a deep sensitivity to place”.

Mr McLaughlin was born in Geneva in 1962 and was educated in Dublin, studying architecture at University College Dublin between 1979 and 1984.

Mr McLaughlin’s work has been said to be shaped by place, material, light and form and the RIBA Honours jury described him as a “pivotal figure” in contemporary architecture, whose work “not only enriches the architectural profession but also addresses its evolving challenges”.

Among his work is the cloud-like Bandstand at Bexhill, East Sussex (2001); the calm orthogonal pavilions of the Alzheimer’s Respite Centre in Dublin (2011); the latticed timber oval of the Bishop Edward King Chapel in Oxford (2013); and the simple brick volumes of The New Library Magdalene College (2021) in Cambridge which won the 2022 Stirling Prize.

The RIBA said his projects vary wildly but “are united by a profound commitment to their users”.

He is also an educator and has taught at The Bartlett School of Architecture for over 25 years, amid stints at The University of California Los Angeles (2012-2013) and as Lord Norman Foster Visiting Professor of Architecture at Yale (2014-2015).

The 2026 RIBA Honours committee said Mr McLaughlin’s work at Darbishire Place in 2014, which was one of Peabody’s oldest housing estates in London, was “a hugely impressive revival” and was “arguably one of greatest relevance to the future of architecture in the UK”.

“Critics remarked, if all new social housing was as thoughtfully designed as Darbishire Place, the green housing agenda would be well advanced,” the committee said.

Mr McLaughlin has also been an advocate for young architects, calling for transparency in working hours and pay, as well as openness around mental health.

In 2020 he was made an honorary MBE for services to architecture.

“I am delighted and honoured to receive the 2026 Royal Gold Medal for architecture,” Mr McLaughlin said:

“My team and I view architecture as a continuity of practice across generations.

“We are grateful to our teachers, who passed on the spirit, and our students, who continually question and transform it.

“As a small studio, we have grown and learned together.

“Thank you to all those who have collaborated with us and supported our ideals through commissioning, design, and construction.

“Through practice, we have learned that architecture is not the production of singular objects, but an ongoing performance of development, alteration and reinvention through lived experience.

“At a time of accelerating technological change in design and construction, we continue to insist on the human rituals and material practices at the heart of our discipline.

“Building is an act, not an object. Architecture lies in its making and the way that it shapes learning, culture, and communal life.

“We accept this recognition with gratitude and with a renewed commitment to live up to its challenge.”

RIBA president and the chairman of the 2026 RIBA Honours Jury, Chris Williamson, said: “Always one to credit and uplift those around him, it is fitting that Niall is recognised for the resounding impact he has had on the profession.

“As an educator, he has been an outstanding role model for young architects, while his designs – eclectic in appearance and use – share a sense of care and grace that represent the very best of architecture.

“Such sustained success has in no way diminished his humility. A humble visionary, his dedication to architecture as an art and professional practice has left an enduring mark on the discipline – one that will undoubtedly transcend trends and time.”