Níall McLaughlin has been awarded the 2026 Royal Gold Medal for Architecture, one of the world’s most significant honours in the field. Announced by the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) and conferred on behalf of His Majesty the King, the medal recognises a body of work that spans more than three decades and reaches well beyond buildings alone.
An architect, educator, and writer, McLaughlin’s influence extends across practice, teaching, and architectural thinking. His work is known for its consistency of intent, regardless of scale or budget, and for a sustained focus on place, material, light, craft, and the lived experience of space.
Recognition from RIBA and the 2026 Honours Jury
The 2026 RIBA Honours Jury described McLaughlin as a “pivotal figure in contemporary architecture,” praising a body of work that enriches the profession and responds to its evolving social, environmental, and cultural responsibilities.
According to the jury, his projects challenge conventional approaches to architecture and regeneration, offering alternatives rooted in long-term value, environmental awareness, and cultural care rather than visual excess.
A deliberate modesty runs through McLaughlin’s architecture. Early works such as the cloud-like Bandstand at Bexhill-on-Sea (2001) sit comfortably alongside later projects, including the Alzheimer’s Respite Centre in Dublin (2011), a series of calm orthogonal pavilions designed to support care and dignity.
This approach continued with the Bishop Edward King Chapel in Oxford (2013), where a finely latticed timber structure forms an oval space shaped by light and enclosure, and culminated in The New Library at Magdalene College, Cambridge (2021). The latter went on to win the 2022 Stirling Prize for its restrained brick forms and clarity of purpose.
Despite wide variation in typology and ambition, McLaughlin’s buildings share a commitment to users and to the quiet power of well-made space. His architecture is characterised by elemental geometry, limited material palettes, and careful attention to detail.
He has consistently rejected the idea of the architect’s signature as a primary goal. For McLaughlin, originality often lies in the subtle decisions, in how materials are assembled, and spaces are shaped.
RIBA President and Chair of the 2026 Honours Jury, Chris Williamson, highlighted McLaughlin’s humility alongside his achievements. He praised McLaughlin as both an educator and a designer whose work, though diverse in appearance and use, is consistently marked by care and grace.
Williamson noted that this combination represents the best of architectural practice and has left an enduring impact on the discipline.
Responding to the announcement, McLaughlin described architecture as a collective endeavour that unfolds across generations. He expressed gratitude to teachers, students, collaborators, and clients and emphasised the importance of continuity in practice.
He reflected on architecture as an ongoing process shaped by use, change and lived experience. In the context of rapid technological change, he reaffirmed his commitment to the human rituals and material practices at the heart of building.
Teaching and Education as a Core Practice
Teaching has been central to McLaughlin’s career from the outset. He has taught at the Bartlett School of Architecture for over 25 years and has held visiting professorships at the University of California, Los Angeles, and at Yale University, where he served as Lord Norman Foster Visiting Professor of Architecture.
He sees education, practice and research as part of a continuous process, each informing the other. His commitment to teaching has helped shape generations of architects and contributed to wider debates about the role and responsibilities of the profession.
Advocacy for Young Architects and Professional Ethics
Beyond design and teaching, McLaughlin has been a vocal advocate for fair working conditions within architecture. He has spoken openly about the need for transparency around pay and working hours and for greater openness regarding mental health.
Through both his studio and his pedagogy, he has demonstrated a model of practice grounded in care, generosity and shared responsibility.
Níall McLaughlin’s Previous Honors and Career Highlights
McLaughlin has received numerous accolades throughout his career, including the RIBA Charles Jencks Award for Simultaneous Contribution to Theory and Practice in 2016. He was elected to Aosdána and to the Royal Academy in 2019 and awarded an Honorary MBE for Services to Architecture in 2020.
His work has been exhibited internationally, including at the Venice Biennale, and he co-curated the Architecture Rooms for the Royal Academy Summer Exhibition in 2022.
Born in Geneva in 1962 and educated in Dublin, McLaughlin studied architecture at University College Dublin before moving to London, where he established his practice in 1990. His studio has delivered projects across education, culture, housing, health care, and religious worship.
His architectural thinking is informed by a deep engagement with history, literature and art, and by a nuanced understanding of time, social context and environmental responsibility.
Public Lecture in London, April 2026
A public lecture with Níall McLaughlin will take place in London on 30 April 2026. The event will mark the award of the Royal Gold Medal and offer an opportunity to reflect on a career that continues to shape architecture through restraint, thoughtfulness and care.
Image credit: Nick Kane / RIBA
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