As we approach the end of 2025, the Royal Society of Ulster Architects (RSUA) takes a look back at a sample of the award winning architecture that has been delivered right across Northern Ireland in the first 25 years of this century.
Ciarán Fox said, “We love our 15s up north, so we’ve set ourselves the almost impossible task of selecting only 15 of the best examples of architecture in Northern Ireland in a quarter of a century. There is such a vast range of excellent projects from which to choose and we’re more than happy to hear views on what else should’ve made the list. But we’ve considered the different project types from one-off housing right up to the largest public buildings, the location, the time period and the societal impact. All 15 projects have been noted for the quality of their architecture through regional and national awards.”
“Everyone will have their own favourite and we’ll be listening out for feedback to see which of these buildings the public has taken into their hearts. Undertaking the review has highlighted how important design competitions are to achieving excellence particularly in public buildings. Those competitions have become very rare in Northern Ireland in recent years. We will be working with Government in 2026 to get design competitions back into the mix.”
Architect: Glenn Howells Architects
Client: Armagh District Council
Completion year: 2000
Location: Armagh
The winning entry in an international architectural competition, Glenn Howells Architects’ design for The Market Place Theatre and Arts Centre won a RIBA Regional Award in 2000. The modernist building which replaced a cinema destroyed by a bomb, is made of five terraces of cast stone volumes that navigate the steeply sloping site of Market Square. The theatre which celebrated its 25th anniversary this year was opened by Prince Charles, now King.
Architect: Twenty-Two Over Seven
Client: Doug and June Elliott
Completion year: 2003
Location: Belfast
The Batik Building, designed by Twenty-Two Over Seven, was part of the redevelopment of the former Belfast Gasworks on the Ormeau Road. Surrounded by the restored Victorian architecture on the site, this new building was recognised for its sensitive integration with Belfast’s industrial heritage. Originally the building combined mostly showroom space for a contemporary design and furniture shop but is now office space.
Architect: Kennedy Fitzgerald Architects
Client: Belfast City Council
Completion year: 2005
Location: Belfast
Kennedy Fitzgerald Architects’ leisure centre on the Falls Road focused on glass, light and colour. The centre was hailed as ‘a brave and deliberate break with Belfast’s siege mentality architecture’ by the RIBA Journal at the time. It won awards across Ireland and Britain. The project was the first a string of award-winning projects in the Gaeltacht Quarter including Sportlánn at Coláiste Feirste, Raidió Fáilte and the Liam McCormick Prize winning building of 2022, Áras Uí Chonghaile.
Architect: O’Donnell+Tuomey
Client: Lyric Theatre
Completion year: 2011
Location: Belfast
The Lyric Theatre in Belfast is one of only three Ulster buildings to have ever won Ireland’s top accolade for architecture – the RIAI Gold Medal. Designed by architects O’Donnell + Tuomey, who have since picked up the RIBA Royal Gold Medal, the Lyric is admired for its material quality and its integration into the constrained site between the red-brick terraced housing of Stranmillis and the River Lagan. The building was the setting for an historic handshake between the Queen and Martin McGuinness in 2012.
Architect: Hackett Hall McKnight
Client: The MAC
Completion year: 2012
Location: Belfast
Belfast architects Hackett Hall McKnight won the commission for the new Metropolitan Arts Centre Belfast, ‘The MAC’, through an International Design Contest in 2007. The centre opened its doors in 2012, providing Belfast’s Cathedral Quarter with a new public space and acting as a beacon for the ongoing regeneration of Belfast. Its architectural excellence was recognised with a RIBA National Award and the architects behind the project have gone on to deliver numerous award-winning buildings.
Architect: Heneghan Peng
Client: National Trust
Completion year: 2012
Location: Bushmills
Designed by Heneghan Peng, the architects behind the recently opened Grand Egyptian Museum in Giza, the Giant’s Causeway Visitor Centre is folded into the landscape surrounding Northern Ireland’s most iconic natural attraction and only World Heritage Site. Much of the building is tucked beneath a grass-covered roof to retain the uninterrupted coastal views while its façades echo the legendary hexagonal columns of the Causeway itself. The architects were appointed following an international design competition which attracted over 200 submissions. The project went on to win the Liam McCormick Prize for NI’s building of the year and was shortlisted for the RIBA Stirling Prize and the EU Mies Awards.
Architect: Eric Kuhne (Civic Arts) and TODD Architects
Client: Titanic Quarter Ltd.
Completion year: 2012
Location: Belfast
Titanic Belfast is the centrepiece of the £97 million Titanic Quarter regeneration project. London architects CivicArts were responsible for the original design concept, while local practice TODD Architects worked alongside them to deliver the completed building. The four steel-plated wings of Northern Ireland’s most visited tourist attraction, located at the head of the slipway where RMS Titanic was built, have become an iconic addition to the landmarks of Belfast. The building was an RSUA Award winner in 2014 and it has gone on to become an undoubted tourism success story.
Architect: Studio PDP
Client: Choice Housing
Completion year: 2015
Location: Carryduff
Studio PDP’s Killynure Green development in Carryduff is an important example of the growing role of well-designed social housing in Northern Ireland over the past 25 years. The scheme demonstrates how social housing can deliver high-quality homes that are practical, durable and responsive to their setting. This development for Choice Housing was the first scheme in Northern Ireland to achieve the highest energy efficiency grading possible for sustainable homes.
Architect: McGarry Moon
Client: Jessica McGarry and Steven Moon
Completion year: House completed in 2009 and studio in 2017
Location: Kilrea
There aren’t many architects who can say they’re behind two UK-wide award-winning buildings on the same site, but husband-and-wife team Jessica McGarry and Steven Moon (McGarry Moon Architects) can. Fallahogey House and Studio follow the form of a simple barn, housing a series of fluid spaces within. The double-height windows create bright spaces which flow into the rural landscape. In 2009, Fallahogey house in Kilrea won a RIBA national award and the studio won another in 2017.
Architect: d-on architects
Client: Trustees of St. Bronagh’s Primary School
Completion year: 2017
Location: Rostrevor
St Bronagh’s Primary School won the Liam McCormick Prize for best building in Northern Ireland in 2018 and is the only school to have ever done so. The school’s restrained and structured design by d-on architects created a calm and airy learning environment. The pupils of St. Bronagh’s and the wider community were heavily involved in the project, from engaging on environmental matters at the outset to painting the roof cowls.
Architect: TODD Architects with Hall Black Douglas
Client: Health Estates Investment Group (HEIG)
Completion year: 2017
Location: Omagh
The £75 million Omagh Hospital and Primary Care Complex received an RSUA Design Award in 2018. TODD Architects and Hall Black Douglas delivered this high-quality, modern facility that sets new standards for healthcare architecture and service delivery. The complex building provides a holistic and welcoming environment for healing and brings acute, primary and community care together on one site in a way that was unique in NI and the UK.
Architect: McGonigle McGrath
Client: Private
Completion year: 2018
Location: Saintfield
This ‘dream home’ in County Down, designed by McGonigle McGrath and built on the ‘tightest of budgets’ was named by RIBA as the UK’s House of the Year in 2019. It was named as the winner during the final episode of the Channel 4 television series Grand Designs: House of the Year. House Lessans used simple details and cost-effective materials to create an elegant and bespoke home that resonates with its owners, a semi-retired couple. McGonigle McGrath has won Northern Ireland’s House of the Year and also Building of the Year on numerous occasions.
Architect: Consarc Design Group
Client: Translink
Completion year: 2020
Location: Derry
The North West Transport Hub in Derry-Londonderry was restored and reimagined by Consarc Design Group. By revitalising the once derelict 1873 Waterside railway station into a vibrant multimodal transport hub, the project not only preserves significant Victorian railway architecture but also supports sustainable travel, community use and regional connectivity in the North West. Its high-quality restoration and creation of civic and social spaces earned multiple RSUA awards for design, conservation, sustainability and placemaking.
Architect: Feilden Clegg Bradley Studios with McAdam Design, Scott Tallon Walker & White Ink Architects
Client: Ulster University
Completion year: 2023
Location: Belfast
The Liam McCormick Prize-winning Ulster University Belfast Campus opened to students and the public in 2023. The design team of Feilden Clegg Bradley Studios, McAdam Design, Scott Tallon Walker & White Ink Architects faced the challenge of fitting close to 300 learning spaces for some 15,000 students and staff into the site on the northern edge of Belfast’s city centre. The completed project is a city within a city and is estimated to have had a regeneration impact of £1.4 billion on the Northern Ireland economy.
Architect: TODD Architects
Client: Queen’s University
Completion year: 2023
Location: Belfast
The Queen’s Business School Student Hub by TODD Architects was designed to sit sensitively beside the historic Riddel Hall and mature woodland, offering a mix of teaching, study and social spaces that reflect students’ needs. A low energy design approach was also promoted from the beginning of the project. The building was awarded the Liam McCormick Prize as Northern Ireland’s Building of the Year 2025 and has also been recognised with a RIBA National Award.
