Large architectural practices with track records in specific building types have a good showing in this year's RIAI (Royal Institute of the Architects of Ireland) awards. First up among the nine main award winners is O'Mahony Pike - perhaps the biggest housing designers countrywide - which has scooped the Best Housing Award for its scheme at Hanover Quay, in Dublin's Docklands. Its Grand Canal Basin elevation has been a part of the cityscape for some years now. Practice partner Jim Pike is also current president of the RIAI. The judging panel of Robin Mandal, Jim Barrett, Patrick Mellett, Carole Pollard and Mary Hanna, said the building "carefully handles the scale from the nearby Georgian grain to the industrial heritage of Dublin south docks. The devices used for achieving a human scale are subtle, with the frontage to Grand Canal Basin being particularly successful." Murray O'Laoire and Brian O'Connell Associates - responsible for designing many hospitals across Ireland - has scooped the Best Health Building award for the Bons Secours Day Hospital and chapel in Galway. The judges commended its roofscape "for being carefully considered" and say that, "while the impact of the building is subtle, the detailing and use of materials creates a sense of excitement".
