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The architects of the Lyric Theatre have won the Royal Gold Medal, which is approved personally by Her Majesty The Queen.
Architects Sheila O'Donnell and John Tuomey were given the award in recognition of a lifetime's work. The Royal Gold Medal is the world's most prestigious architecture award.
The award is given to a person, or group of people, who have had a significant influence "either directly or indirectly on the advancement of architecture".
The Lyric Theatre is one of a record five buildings by the Dublin-based architects O'Donnell + Tuomey to have been shortlisted for the RIBA (Royal Institute of British Architects) Stirling Prize.
The firm was shortlisted in 1999 for the Ranelagh Multi-Denominational School (Dublin, Ireland), in 2005 for the Lewis Glucksman Gallery (Cork, Ireland), in 2011 for An Gaeláras Irish Language Arts and Cultural Centre (Londonderry) and in 2014 for the London School of Economics Saw Swee Hock Students' Centre (London, UK).
The Lyric Theatre's chairman, Mark Carruthers, said: "Everyone at the Lyric is thrilled to see O'Donnell + Tuomey receiving the global recognition their work deserves. It comes as no surprise to any of us that Sheila and John should attract the highest accolade in world architecture – we know better than anyone that they design buildings which are both brilliant and beautiful.
"We always knew that the task of designing the new Lyric would be a stiff challenge, given the complexity of the site and the intricate, technical demands of a theatre building, but Sheila and John's ideas exceeded our wildest expectations."
(CD/JP)
