GERRY CAHILL AADipl FRIAI RIBA was educated at University College Dublin and the Architectural Association London.
Qualifying from the AA in 1975 he worked on housing and urban renewal projects in London. On his return to Dublin in 1978 he was awarded the Cement Roadstone Housing Research Fellowship in University College Dublin (UCD). This led to the publication of BACK TO THE STREET (1980) proposing how the Liberties – a Dublin Inner City neighbourhood – could be regenerated.
Since the early 1980s he has been principal of GCA GERRY CAHILL ARCHITECTS – a practice that established a reputation for the design of high quality projects in multiple sectors . GCA has received numerous awards for its work from the Irish Concrete Society, the Architectural Association of Ireland (AAI), the Royal institute of Architects of Ireland (RIAI) and OPUS including in 2007, the RIAI SILVER MEDAL FOR HOUSING. In 2001 Gerry Cahill was personally given the LORD MAYOR’S AWARD for his contribution to Dublin.
A lifelong commitment to energy conscious design saw Gerry Cahill appointed in the 1990s to the board of the charity ENERGY ACTION and subsequently to the board of the statutory SUSTAINABLE ENERGY AUTHORITY OF IRELAND (SEAI) from 2001 to 2007. GCA is also a member of the EUROPEAN GREEN CITIES NETWORK.
Gerry Cahill has taught at the UCD SCHOOL OF ARCHITECTURE in undergraduate and postgraduate courses since 1978 and has lectured internationally in Europe and North America. In the late 1980s he co-ordinated and edited DUBLIN CITY QUAYS : PROJECTS BY THE SCHOOL OF ARCHITECTURE UCD an exhibition and publication which is acknowledged as influencing the renewal of the capital city.
Among his ongoing teaching roles he is currently co-ordinator of the UCD STUDY ABROAD PROGRAMME to encourage international students to select Ireland as a place of further learning and inspiration.
Gerry Cahill’s drawings and sketches have been exhibited by the RIAI and published in the WHOSEDAY book in 2000. His sketchbooks remain on display since 2010 as part of THE SECRET LABORATORY a travelling exhibition organized by the University of Ulster. In 2008 GCA GERRY CAHILL ARCHITECTS represented Ireland with the audio visual exhibit SANCTUARY + CONGREGATION as part of the LIVES OF SPACES installation at the 11th ARCHITECTURAL VENICE BIENNALE In Italy.