2024-05-16T00:02:01-04:00 https://archinect.com/news/article/150291366/o-donnell-tuomey-architects-founders-honored-with-riai-gold-medal-for-belfast-s-lyric-theatre Josh Niland 2021-12-15T19:26:00-05:00 >2024-03-15T01:45:58-04:00 <img src="https://archinect.gumlet.io/uploads/a0/a002ecd394abe2ecb6200f3316b7b55a.jpg?fit=crop&auto=compress%2Cformat&enlarge=true&w=1200" border="0" /><p>Following news this morning about the <a href="https://archinect.com/news/article/150291274/photos-first-v-a-east-building-tops-out-in-east-london-ceremony" target="_blank">topping out</a> of one of the firm&rsquo;s highest-profile projects in recent memory, Dublin-based <a href="https://archinect.com/firms/cover/109716704/o-donnell-tuomey-architects" target="_blank">O&rsquo;Donnell + Tuomey Architects</a> has been awarded the Royal Institute of Architects of Ireland&rsquo;s Gold Medal for their 2012 Lyric Theatre project in Belfast.</p> <p>Featuring a brilliant CLT auditorium, the building is sited on a slope along the River Lagan and is defined by a distinctive irregular shape and time-tested materials that respond to the area's contrasting brick streetscape and lush green parkland which surrounds the 54,100-square-foot structure on either side.</p> <figure><p><a href="https://archinect.gumlet.io/uploads/66/6681549e1e5a202d031c481456514a43.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&amp;w=1028" target="_blank"><img src="https://archinect.gumlet.io/uploads/66/6681549e1e5a202d031c481456514a43.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&amp;w=514"></a></p><figcaption> The Lyric Theatre by O Donnell + Tuomey. Photo: Dennis Gilbert</figcaption></figure><p>The RIAI&rsquo;s Peter Hynes commended the theater as a &ldquo;deeply considered and exquisitely crafted building which responds to and engages with its physical and cultural contexts and enriches both,&rdquo; adding that &ldquo;it combines the welcome of arrival with the drama of movement and the surprise of discovery on many levels. It integrates public funct...</p>