2014 - On 27th May, Lord Foster was awarded the Médaille d'Or. The medal was presented by Jacques Santer, during a ceremony at the Salle da Vinci of the Ordre des Architectes et des Ingenieus-Conseils (OAI) in Luxembourg City. Following the ceremony, Lord Foster gave a lecture on the future of architecture in Europe, where he spoke of Royal-Hamilius, which his practice is currently designing in cooperation with the Bart Ringer office: "Tetra Kayser Associés". It is a mixed-use development in the heart of Luxembourg City, designed to provide an appropriate setting for the city’s UNESCO World Heritage Site, the project comprises a department store, offices, shops, apartments, and a variety of new social and civic spaces. This mix of use is increasing in the city and Lord Foster described how he believes he can set a new course on the edge of the old town. "If you go into a city, the perception and memory will centrally depend on how you move in it, how to get from one building to the next This does not mean that buildings are not important per se. Of course they are important, I am an architect. But it is the infrastructure of public space, the movement possibilities, the liveliness of the streets that determine the quality taken to the extreme, it is what draws people to Venice, which has no cars and the centre of perception is pedestrian dependant. I think that the urban movement once set up a competition among developers, but with the buildings of that period, it did not really transform this particular site on Boulevard Royal; but it is central to the high part of the historical old town. It has a transitional altitude and so it is slightly larger and thicker. But with "Royal Hamilius" there are different types of use, in particular the creation of quieter neighbourhoods around the public space. Offices and shopping opportunities are just around the corner. This is like a city in microcosm. "
Lord Foster gave a lecture, after this award ceremony, at the awards for several other projects, where he pointed out similarities to "Royal Hamilius", for example, the Carré d'Art in Nîmes, the Port of Marseille and even Trafalgar Square in London. His offices have been able to achieve a new quality, having researched extensively such new public spaces and making a positive contribution to urban infrastructure.