Gehry, renowned for his ultra-modern art museum in Bilbao, Spain, designed the Dundee center free of charge because of the humanitarian nature of its work. The building is nicknamed "Maggie" in tribute to Maggie Keswick Jencks, wife of architectural writer Charles Jencks, who died of breast cancer in 1995 after founding the first such center for cancer patients.

Gehry's structure overlooks the Firth of Tay and was designed to welcome patients with natural light reflected from the center's undulating steel roof.

"It's about my best yet," The Guardian newspaper quoted Gehry saying about the building.

In announcing the award, Lord St. John of Fawsley, the arts commission chairman, described Gehry as "the greatest contemporary American architect."