Yvonne Farrell and Shelley McNamara, founders of Grafton Architects, received The Daylight Award for their architecture on 16 May 2022, at the award ceremony in Copenhagen, Denmark.
The jury citation:
Grafton Architects have mastered the use of daylight throughout their wide and exceptionally varied design production. They use natural light to differentiate and articulate spaces of different importance, functional purpose and experiential atmosphere. Daylight is employed in their design process as an integrated and irreplaceable quality, along with the spatial arrangement, structural frame and technical systems.
Their skill to direct daylight both vertically and horizontally into often thick and layered building volumes is remarkable. Natural illumination heightens the working conditions and sensory qualities of the spaces, instead of being merely an element of composition or aestheticization. Daylight emphasizes and celebrates the main spaces in their buildings. Natural light in Grafton Architects’ projects has a relaxed, generous, and calm presence.
It is clear that daylight is particularly important in Grafton Architects’ architecture. It is not an accessory. It is a major constituent element of the architecture. Grafton Architects show a skillful and delicate mastery of daylight, which fully serves an architecture of use for the people who inhabit the spaces and enhances the life of the community.
About The Daylight Award
The Daylight Award is established by the philanthropic foundations VILLUM FONDEN, VELUX FONDEN and VELUX STIFTUNG, and is conferred biennially in two categories: The Daylight Award for Research and The Daylight Award for Architecture. The award is given as personal prizes, and each to the sum of €100,000.
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