The Royal Academy Architecture Prize 2023 has been awarded to Shane de Blacam.

The jury was impressed by his commitment to creating communal spaces. They also highlighted his remarkable craftsmanship and the pleasure he takes in joinery and detail.

de Blacam founded the architectural practice de Blacam and Meagher with John Meagher in 1976. de Blacam’s buildings are characterised by their simplicity and their celebration of local materials. Throughout his career, he has been concerned with creating spaces for people to come
together, including the sensitively restored Abbeyleix Library in Laois and the elegant Samuel Beckett Theatre at Trinity College, Dublin.

Before forming his practice with Meagher, de Blacam worked in London with the architects if the Barbican Centre, Chamberlain, Powell and Bon. He then travelled to America where he worked with Louis I. Khan for two years on the Mellon Centre for British Art and British Studies, Yale
University, New Haven Connecticut.

New school in Monasterevin completed for September 2023. The building is sited in Moore Abbey Demesne in a rural landscape and is designed for 850 pupils.

Planning permission granted for a new 50 bedroom hotel on the grounds of Goffs Bloodstock Sales in County Kildare.

Construction works completed for development of eight houses and fourteen apartments in Blackrock.

Progress at the site of the new school building at Monasterevin in County Kildare. The 850 pupil school is due to be completed in summer 2023.

de Blacam and Meagher have been appointed by Fingal County Council to restore a range of Mc Kenzie and Moncur Victorian glasshouses in the walled gardens of Ardgillan Demesne, Balbriggan. The glasshouses were originally erected in the late 1800’s at the Jameson family estate Seamount, Malahide, and were gifted to Fingal County Council in the 1990’s.

Development of seven substantial private residences on Shrewsbury Road, Dublin 4, completed for Glenveagh Homes.
The development consisted of the construction of 7 three storey over basement dwellings in two separate blocks with a communal landscaped gardens.

Development of 85 residential apartments in five separate blocks at Greenfield Park, Donnybrook, Dublin 4, for Cairn Homes.
The development consists of 4 five storey blocks and 1 four-storey block over communal basement parking, surrounded by landscaped gardens and served by a Concierge building at the entrance of the development.

The refurbished library, designed by de Blacam & Meagher Architects, is housed in the Market House in Abbeyleix which was built in 1836 by Viscount John de Vesci. The brief to the architect was that the whole building should be redesigned internally to incorporate a modern 21st century public library facility and art gallery.

Capard – Orangery. Winner of the Best Architectural Glasshouse category at the 10th anniversary of the The International Design and Architecture Awards, London hosted by design et al.
The curved frame double vaulted glasshouse, designed by de Blacam & Meagher Architects, is a recent addition to the refurbished private residence on the foothills of the Slieve Bloom Mountains.
Manufactured and installed by Marston and Langiner complemented by a rich and sophisticated interior scheme that has been carefully curated by Martyn Lawrence Bullard Design.