{"id":401681,"date":"2026-02-01T03:26:22","date_gmt":"2026-02-01T03:26:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/401681\/"},"modified":"2026-02-01T03:26:22","modified_gmt":"2026-02-01T03:26:22","slug":"niall-mclaughlin-wins-riba-royal-gold-medal-for-architecture","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/401681\/","title":{"rendered":"N\u00edall McLaughlin wins RIBA Royal Gold Medal for architecture"},"content":{"rendered":"

The RIBA cited McLaughlin\u2019s \u2018remarkable\u2019 body of work over a 30-year career, demonstrating \u2018consistency, regardless of scale or budget\u2019 in creating projects around the world that have been \u2018shaped by a deep sensitivity to place, material, craft, light and form\u2019.<\/p>\n

The Irish architect\u2019s Camden-based practice, N\u00edall McLaughlin Architects, is known for creating educational, care and faith buildings, including the Alzheimer\u2019s Respite Centre in Dublin (2011); the 2013 RIBA Stirling Prize-shortlisted Bishop Edward King Chapel at Ripon College Cuddesdon in Oxford<\/a>; and The New Library Magdalene College<\/a> (2021), which went on to be crowned the nation\u2019s best building in 2022.<\/p>\n

The RIBA jury described McLaughlin as a \u2018pivotal figure in contemporary architecture\u2019, whose work \u2018not only enriches the architectural profession but also addresses its evolving challenges\u2019.<\/p>\n

Key buildings by N\u00edall McLaughlin Architects
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\nDrawings, images and details of 12 projects by N\u00edall McLaughlin Architects are in the AJ Buildings Library<\/a><\/p>\n

The 63-year-old joins a Who\u2019s Who of names to have been honoured with the medal \u2013 which is personally approved by the King \u2013 including David Chipperfield, Peter Zumthor, Zaha Hadid, Sheila O\u2019Donnell and John Tuomey, and Dublin-based Grafton Architects<\/p>\n

Speaking to the AJ, McLaughlin said it was \u2018pretty extraordinary\u2019 to have his \u2018long-term approach recognised in this way\u2019.<\/p>\n

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The Magdalene Library by N\u00edall McLaughlin Architects. Photo: Nick Kane<\/p>\n

McLaughlin said he was \u2018delighted\u2019 to receive the award, adding: \u2018My team and I view architecture as a continuity of practice across generations. As a small studio, we have grown and learned together.<\/p>\n

\u2018Through 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.<\/p>\n

At a time of accelerating technological change, we continue to insist on human rituals and material practices<\/p>\n

\u2018At 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.\u2019<\/p>\n

He added: \u2018We accept this recognition with gratitude and with a renewed commitment to live up to its challenge.\u2019<\/p>\n

The RIBA also highlighted McLaughlin\u2019s work as an educator, having taught at The Bartlett School of Architecture for more than 25 years, as well as periods of teaching at The University of California Los Angeles and at Yale.<\/p>\n

Chris Williamson, RIBA president, said: \u2018Always one to credit and uplift those around him, it is fitting that N\u00edall is recognised for the resounding impact he has had on the profession.<\/p>\n

\u2018As an educator, he has been an outstanding role model for young architects, while his designs \u2013 eclectic in appearance and use \u2013 share a sense of care and grace that represent the very best of architecture.<\/p>\n

\u2018Such 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 \u2013 one that will undoubtedly transcend trends and time.\u2019<\/p>\n

A public lecture given by McLaughlin will take place in London on 30 April.<\/p>\n

The 2026 RIBA Honours Jury was chaired by RIBA president Chris Williamson and comprised 2025 Royal Gold Medal recipient Kazuyo Sejima of SANAA, Anna Liu of Tonkin Liu, Isabel Allen, editor of Architecture Today, and Victoria Farrow, architect and subject lead in architecture and the built environment at Leicester School of Architecture, De Montfort University.<\/p>\n

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Niall McLaughlin at Magdalene College New Library, credit: Jim Stephenson<\/p>\n

Citation by the 2026 RIBA Honours Committee<\/p>\n

N\u00edall\u00a0McLaughlin\u2019s qualities as an architect stem from his \u2018commitment to architecture as an art and professional practice\u2019 said Charles Jencks when handing him the RIBA Charles Jencks Award in 2016 for Simultaneous Contribution to Theory and Practice. In 2020 he was awarded an Honorary MBE for Services to Architecture.<\/p>\n

With over 30 years in practice his portfolio of outstanding projects ranges from the cloud-like Bandstand at Bexhill (2001); the calm orthogonal pavilions of the Alzheimer\u2019s Respite Centre<\/a> in Dublin (2011); the latticed timber oval of the Bishop Edward King Chapel in Oxford (2013); to the very simple brick volumes of The New Library Magdalene College (2021).<\/p>\n

His work for Peabody,\u00a0Darbishire\u00a0place<\/a> (2014), one of Peabody\u2019s oldest housing estates in London,\u00a0represents\u00a0a hugely impressive revival of a still vital tradition of housing delivery. Featured on the 2015 RIBA Stirling Prize shortlist, it was\u00a0arguably one\u00a0of greatest relevance to the future of architecture in the UK. Critics remarked, if all new social housing\u00a0was\u00a0as thoughtfully designed as\u00a0Darbishire\u00a0Place, the green housing agenda would be well advanced.<\/p>\n

N\u00edall\u00a0is a thinking architect, who embraces history,\u00a0art\u00a0and literature as muses<\/p>\n

N\u00edall\u00a0has a robust reputation for thoughtful,\u00a0innovative\u00a0and well-crafted architecture. His rich enjoyment of the process of architecture has made him one of the most respected yet idiosyncratic architectural practitioners in the UK.<\/p>\n

McLaughlin\u2019s contributions to architecture are multifaceted, encompassing award-winning building designs, critical discourse, influential writing, and impactful educational initiatives.<\/p>\n

N\u00edall\u00a0is a thinking architect, who embraces history,\u00a0art\u00a0and literature as muses. He believes that practice should be understood as a range of activities which are all necessary to each other. His approach for any audience is that they are engaged, motivated and valued.<\/p>\n

The work not only enriches the architectural profession but also addresses its evolving challenges, making him a pivotal figure in contemporary architecture.<\/p>\n

McLaughlin\u2019s architectural vision is deeply informed by a nuanced understanding of time, social context, and environmental impact. In his talk Six Pockets of Time, he said: \u2018Time, and how buildings embody this elusive medium, the apparently static durability of architecture, hides the fact that it\u2019s representative of development, change and temporal depth at every level.\u2019 He frames contemporary practice as a procession of communal performances organised in time.<\/p>\n

He argues that architecture\u00a0represents\u00a0the durability of communal bonds, and that this insight has critical\u202frelevance at a moment when the embodied investment in our existing building stock has urgent priority.<\/p>\n

Born in Geneva in 1962. He was educated in Dublin and studied architecture at University College Dublin between 1979 and 1984. He worked for Scott Tallon Walker for four years and\u00a0established\u00a0his own practice in London in 1990. He has designed buildings for education, culture, health, religious\u00a0worship\u00a0and housing.<\/p>\n

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Teaching has been integral to his practice from the start, describing his first role at Oxford Brookes as his introduction to any coherent architecture scene in the UK. Teaching has\u00a0remained\u00a0important to him; he is a professor of architectural practice at the Bartlett \u2013 and views studying, practice and teaching as a vital continuum of learning and education. He was a visiting professor at the University of California Los Angeles from\u00a02012-2013, and\u00a0was appointed Lord Norman Foster Visiting Professor of Architecture at Yale for 2014-2015.<\/p>\n

His own educational experience at University College Dublin is a constant referent when he discusses his approach to design \u2013 and underpins the intense ideation of materials in his projects.<\/p>\n

With a distinctive approach to materiality, his architecture is informed by ideas around the individual perception of space. McLaughlin emphasises the importance of setting and light in architecture, which speaks to the cultural and technical aspects of his design principles. His projects often challenge conventional notions of architecture and regeneration, illustrating a visionary approach that prioritises environmental and cultural considerations.<\/p>\n

McLaughlin\u2019s is an architecture that plays with elemental geometries and simple palettes of materials and is not afraid to draw on nor to echo in its forms past models of Classicism or historical precedents.<\/p>\n

He doesn\u2019t focus on the idea of the architect\u2019s authorial \u2018signature\u2019. Instead, he feels, \u2018Originality in building is rarely the way in which it is packaged and sold. A project can be incredibly original and beautifully built on account of the way the brick is bonded. Sometimes it\u2019s the quiet thing within a project that\u2019s original.<\/p>\n

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N\u00edall McLaughlin\u2019s Ismaili Trust funeral pavilion credit: N\u00edall McLaughlin\/Ismaili Trust<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The RIBA cited McLaughlin\u2019s \u2018remarkable\u2019 body of work over a 30-year career, demonstrating \u2018consistency, regardless of scale or…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":401682,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[31],"tags":[6225,6485,6486,1120,96,148791,99310,86176,150139,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-401681","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-arts-and-design","tag-arts","tag-arts-and-design","tag-artsanddesign","tag-design","tag-entertainment","tag-niall-mclaughlin","tag-niall-mclaughlin-architects","tag-riba","tag-riba-gold-medal","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/401681","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=401681"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/401681\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/401682"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=401681"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=401681"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=401681"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}