Bing Thom in Vancouver.Laura Leyshon for The Globe and Mail
Vancouver architect Bing Thom has been awarded the 2011 Gold Medal for lifetime achievement, the highest honour of the Royal Architectural Institute of Canada, it was announced Wednesday in Ottawa.
Thom, 70, will receive the prize at an awards gala in Vancouver May 27. A native of Hong Kong, Thom came to Canada as a child, eventually studying architecture at the University of British Columbia and later at the University of California, Berkeley. Originally an associate of Arthur Erickson, he started his own firm in 1982, earning an international clientele. The completion of construction of Thom's design for the new Arena Stage at the Mead Center in Washington, D.C. last fall earned him unanimous rave reviews from the media and fellow architects. Previous Gold Medal winners include Frank Gehry, Jane Jacobs, Jack Diamond and Raymond Moriyama.