Níall McLaughlin
Architects

RIBA PRESIDENT’S MEDALS STUDENT AWARDS

DECEMBER 2013

Two members of the practice have won the main awards at this years RIBA President’s Medals Student Awards. The two medals were chosen from over 300 submissions, the best student work from 65 schools around the world.

Ben Hayes received the President’s Medal for his project entitled Kizhi Island, which proposes the restoration and reassembly of 250 wooden Orthodox churches on the small island in northern Russia. The proposal is for a curated museum landscape that incorporates the re-located ecclesiastical structures and an associated restoration and research facility.

Tamsin Hanke received the Dissertation Medal for her thesis, Magnitogorsk: Utopian Vision of Spatial Socialism. The work explored how the political ideology of the city was expressed spatially in the city during the years 1930 to 1953 and how the urban form has manifested in a social-economic legacy that remains to this day.

Ben and Tamsin studied with Niall and his teaching partners Yeoryia Manoloupoulou and Michiko Sumi in Unit 17 at the Bartlett School of Architecture in University College London. Tamsin’s Dissertation Supervisor was Sophia Psarra.

COMPETITON WIN AT KING’S CROSS

FEBRUARY 2013

‘Niall McLaughlin triumphs in King’s Cross canopy competition.’  Building Design

Niall McLaughlin Architects was announced as the winner of the Cubitt Square competition at King’s Cross. The practice was chosen from among a strong shortlist, including Amanda Levete Architects, Asif Khan, Duggan Morris, Carmody Groarke, Ian Ritchie and Jamie Fobert.

The competition brief was to create a canopy structure for the southern end of the square, to provide a covered space for public events. In response the practice’s intention was to create an object that will read beautifully against the dark brick of the train sheds, whilst echoing their inner structure. The canopy will be made from very slender rods of stainless steel that will form a fragile framework. The ephemeral nature of the structure will allow views between the the existing listed buildings and significant structures, such as the Triplet Gas Holders.