Yvonne Farrell and Shelley McNamara co-founded Grafton Architects in 1978, having graduated from University College Dublin in 1974. They are Fellows of the Royal Institute of the Architects of Ireland (RIAI) ; International Honorary Fellows of the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA); members of Aosdána;  Professors at the Academia in Mendrisio, Switzerland.

In 2018, they were the Curators of the Venice Architecture Biennale with their manifesto: Freespace.

Shelley McNamara and Yvonne Farrell were the 2020 recipients of the Pritzker Prize.

Senior Directors Gerard Carty and Philippe O’Sullivan have been with the practice since 1992. They are accomplished teachers and architects and play a central role in the life of the practice.

Grafton Architects’ numerous awards include:

The inaugural RIBA International Prize for the Universidad de Ingeniería y Tecnología (UTEC) in Lima, Peru in 2016; the RIAI Gold Medal for Bocconi University, Milan;  the RIBA Royal Gold Medal in 2020; L’ Équerre d’argent Prize for best building in France with Vigneau Zilio Architectes  for Toulouse School of Economics; Kingston University London – Town House  won the RIBA 2021 Stirling Prize.

Recently completed projects –  all won by international competition – include: The Marshall Institute, Lincoln’s Inn Fields, for the London School of Economics; Headquarters for Electricity Supply Board (ESB) with OMP architects in Dublin; Institute Mines Telcom , Paris/ Saclay, France.