MDO Architects has secured finalist status in three categories at the Building and Architect of the Year Awards 2026, with entries spanning educational, dental and paediatric healthcare architecture that showcase the practice’s range across health and learning environments. It is a shortlist presence that reflects the breadth of the practice’s work and its focus on buildings that serve people directly.

The RCSI PBS Labs, entered in Building of the Year Educational Under 10M, are the next generation teaching laboratories for the RCSI School of Pharmacy and Biomolecular Sciences. The facility marks a major milestone in health sciences education in Ireland and a significant addition to the city centre campus. It reflects the interdisciplinary future of healthcare training and represents a major step forward in medical education and research.

In Building of the Year Educational Over 10M, the RCSI Dental Education Centre Sandyford transforms Reservoir House into a modern dental clinic with teaching facilities. Designed for dental student training while serving the nearby community, the centre integrates simulation suites, a supervised clinic and hospital standard infrastructure. Interventions include an upgraded entrance and upgrades to plant and transport amenities, giving an existing building a new public purpose.

The Barretstown Medical Centre, shortlisted in Building of the Year Medical and Health, is a sensitively designed facility formed through the adaptive reuse and extension of a historic stable building. Set within a walled garden, it offers a calm, non clinical, near zero energy environment where light, landscape and material warmth support the dignity, wellbeing and care of children and families.

Together, the three entries show a practice shaping how Ireland teaches, trains and cares, with each project responding to a distinct brief while keeping people at the centre of the design. From laboratory to clinic to garden setting, the common thread is architecture that supports learning, recovery and community. Which of the three will be recognised will be revealed when the winners are announced.

View the full list of winners at the official awards website and subscribe to the newsletter for complete winner information, past highlights, and full category details from Ireland's architectural community.