Niall McLaughlin was born in Geneva in 1962. He was educated in Dublin and received his architectural qualifications from University College Dublin in 1984. He worked for Scott Tallon Walker in Dublin and London between 1984 and 1989. He established his own practice in London in 1990. Niall McLaughlin Architects make high quality modern buildings with a special emphasis on materials and detail. Niall won Young British Architect of the Year in 1998, he was one of the BBC Rising Stars in 2001 and his work represented Britain in a recent US exhibition Gritty Brits at the Carnegie Mellon Museum. His designs have won many awards in the UK, Ireland and the US, including RIAI Best Building in the Landscape and the RIBA Stephen Lawrence Award for the Best Building under £1million and was on the RIBA Stirling Shortlist 2013. Niall is a visiting professor of architecture at University College London. He was chair of the RIBA Awards Group from 2007 to 2009. He lives in London with his wife Mary, son Diarmaid and daughter Iseult.