Sir Nicholas Grimshaw is to receive the 2019 Royal Gold Medal, the UK's highest honour for architecture, awarded by the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA).

Given in recognition of a lifetime’s work, the Royal Gold Medal is approved personally by Her Majesty The Queen and is given to a person or group of people who have had a significant influence 'either directly or indirectly on the advancement of architecture'.

Announcing the award, RIBA President Ben Derbyshire said,

“It was my privilege to chair the panel that selected Sir Nicholas Grimshaw for UK architecture’s highest accolade. For more than half a century, Sir Nicholas’s influence has been exceptional.

He is responsible for an extraordinary number of buildings and infrastructure projects of international significance, and for the continuous development of an architecture which places technology at the heart of the aesthetic.

"His influence on architecture extends beyond his work as a practitioner. He is an educator, champion for the UK architectural profession and for culture more widely. He is an inspiration to a future generation of architects and his recognition with this Royal Gold Medal is well overdue.”

On hearing of receiving 2019's Royal Gold Medal, Sir Nicholas said,

“I am thrilled to hear about the Gold Medal and would like to thank those who supported my nomination. My life, and that of the practice, has always been involved in experiment and in ideas, particularly around sustainability; I have always felt we should use the technology of the age we live in for the improvement of mankind.

"I would like to thank everyone who has ever worked in the office for contributing to our bank of ideas, and for helping to make it an enjoyable and humanistic place.”

Read the full RIBA statement here →.