The Irish Times

An anglers' facility, a hospital and an arts centre were among the nine winners in the Royal Institute of the Architects of Ireland (RIAI) annual awards announced yesterday. Five of the winning projects were publicly funded, while eight of the prizes went to projects outside Dublin. The awards, now in their 19th year, recognise the highest achievements by Irish architectural practices. The chairman of the judging panel, Robin Mandal, said the judges were "both humbled and very impressed" by what they saw. However, some categories, such as the best conservation project, did not attract projects of high enough quality to justify an award. "In particular, we felt that the conservation submissions lacked perceptive clarity," he said. The house/extension category had "worrying orthodoxy of sameness", but there were exceptions. RIAI president James Pike said standards in the quality and design of buildings had risen significantly in recent times and this was increasingly at the behest of clients.