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.