Alan Dunlop Bio - Alan Dunlop Architect Limited

A L A N D U N L O P A R C H I T E C T

I have 23 years experience as an architect and as a partner in a partnership
which was one of the most respected in the UK and considered to be at the
heart of architectural and cultural life in Scotland.
Each of the projects specially featured in this publication have been chosen to
show the depth of my experience as a designer and team leader and because
they have become exemplars: a hotel for an international chain hotelier; a school
for children who are blind and deaf; a speculative office development; low cost
starter workshops and the regeneration of a Grade A listed railway station.
They have received a high number of national and international awards
for architecture, conservation and urban design and have influenced urban designers,
practitioners and teachers both in the UK and the United States.
My experience as a practitioner, on projects of a city scale and educator
enables me to successfully link “hands on” practise, with teaching and research to
the benefit of the profession.
I have established a reputation as a committed and respected
educator both nationally and internationally. In the last twenty years,
I have also established and continue to develop an exhaustive contact network,
which includes architects, urban designers, architectural critics and writers
on the urban realm and also among fellow educators in the UK, Europe
and the United States.
I am passionate about improving the quality of the civic and public realm and believe
that a commitment to excellence in design, practise and teaching can improve the quality
of life for all citizens.
Alan Dunlop FRIAS FRSA

A L A N D U N L O P A R C H I T E C T
Studio:
13 James Morrison Street
Merchant City
Glasgow G1 5PE
United Kingdom
Web:
www.alandunloparchitects.com
Email:
ad@alandunloparchitects.com
Telephone:
0044 (0) 141 548 6920
Mobile:
0044 (0) 7814 509 013
Car:
0044 (0) 7929 839 282
Radisson SAS Hotel: Sketch
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B I O G R A P H Y
Alan Dunlop is a practising architect and a respected educator. He is the Distinguished Victor L.
Regnier Visiting Chair in Architecture at Kansas State University and Visiting Professor at Robert
Gordon University, Scott Sutherland School of Architecture in Aberdeen. He has taught at
schools of Architecture in Manchester, Liverpool and Glasgow and lectured internationally.
Widely published in the architectural press and in national broadsheets, he is an established commentator
on Architecture, Urban Design and Social Issues.
A Fellow of the Royal Incorporation of Architects in Scotland and the Royal Society of Arts, he
was educated in London and at the Mackintosh School of Architecture in Glasgow.
In practice he has won over fifty national and international awards, including
Europa Nostra; Royal Institute of British Architects Awards; the Scottish Design Awards: Grand
Prix for Architecture; a Special Award from the Royal Institute of the Architects of Ireland; a
British Construction Industry: Best Practice Award; a Designshare Honor Award and two International
Architecture Awards from the Chicago Athenaeum. His project for Hazelwood School
was listed as one the top five schools of the 21st Century by Architectural Record.
A gifted draughtsman and artist his drawings have been exhibited at the Royal Academy in London
and since 1996 at the Royal Scottish Academy. In 2008, he was awarded the Royal Gold
Medal in Architecture from the Royal Scottish Academy. His work has been exhibited at the
Royal Institute of British Architects, the Royal Scottish Academy, the Royal Incorporation of Architects
in Scotland, the Lighthouse in Glasgow, in Europe and at the Venice Biennale.
He regards the education of young architects as both an obligation and a privilege and brings
enthusiasm, ambition and authentic commitment to the task.
Glasgow Riverfront Perspective

S E L E C T E D T E A C H I N G
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S E L E C T E D T E A C H I N G
Distinguished Victor L.Regnier Visiting Chair in Architecture.
Visiting Professor, Kansas State University
Visiting Professor, Unit Master
Scott Sutherland School of Architecture
Robert Gordon University

T E A C H I N G P H I L O S O P H Y
My philosophy is framed by my experience in practice. I ask a lot from my students and in return
I offer challenge, support and ambition, Masters of Architecture units require discipline and structure
to develop each student.
My pedagogical approach is to set highly ambitious project briefs, which address contemporary
issues in architecture and urban design and provoke new ways of thinking and design.
For the first semester students work collectively, as in an atelier, and every student should support
one and other. As a unit they should debate strategy and finesse ideas about master planning
in a programme which they will continue into the second semester. This aim is to allow each student
to develop an individual response to the project brief.
I act as catalyst to allow students to engage in different ways of thinking by inviting internationally
respected architects, artists and clients to take part in reviews. I encourage students to draw by
hand and gain confidence in their drafting and presentational skills.
Schools of architecture seem to often divide into those that are strong in ideas but lack real
knowledge of how to build and those that are technically strong but weak, conceptually.
The ambition of my teaching is to bridge that divide and equip students to move confidently
into the most exciting profession in the world.

Sean Gaule:
Masters of Architecture Studio
Scott Sutherland School
William Mackay:
Masters of Architecture
Studio Scott Sutherland School

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D E S I G N P H I L O S O P H Y
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Creating evocative architecture is the essence of my work and each
building a consequence of deep thinking about the site, programme and context.
The most important element for me is the site and although sometimes dramatic,
my output is often times restrained and contextual.
My architecture can be playful and decorative and occasionally symbolic.
In design, it is important to explore possibilities and take risks, particularly with
materials and colour.
Architecture is how we frame our perception of place. Design is the conduit
through which we convey ideas about materials, colour, light and space.
The architect is the master of the design and construction process. We have a
duty to clients and to society. It is the challenge and the privilege of the architect
to improve the quality of place, cities and the public realm.
1 Spectrum
2 Hazelwood Classroom
3 Radisson SAS Foyer
4 JKS Workshops Detail
5 Hazelwood School
6 JKS Workshops Street
7 New residences Sligo
8 Council Offices Dundee
9 JKS Workshops Concept Sketch
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P R A C T I C E P H I L O S O P H Y
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My aim is to be innovative and professional. As an architect, I offer a rigorous
understanding of the design and construction process and I have an absolute
commitment to my client to be dedicated, thorough and creative.
I lead a small design team who are passionate about building and place making
and who have drive and ambition to deliver quality responses to a range of
architectural challenges. We have access to and collaborate with a range of
experts who share these views.
The studio is at the forefront of technical advancements in construction and
is responsive to client demands on issues affecting the environment.
We operate internationally but cherish each commission individually.
1 Sentinel
2 Spectrum
3 Sligo
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S E L E C T E D L E C T U R E S
Hazelwood School:
Royal Incorporation of Architects in Scotland Annual Convention
The School as a Home for the Mind
Public Lecture, Glasgow Royal Concert Hall
Glasgow‟s Riverfront:
Illinois Institute Of Technology
2009/2010
Build Better Schools
British Council for School Environments
Big Ideas from a Small Place
Oscar Ekdahl Memorial Lecture
Kansas State University
Working Drawing
Distinguished Regnier Chair in Architecture Public Lecture
Teasing the Grid
Kansas City Library Public Lecture
Thought Lines
Mahlum Endowment Lecture, University of Washington
HGI: Hand Generated Image
UCA Canterbury School of Architecture
RED
Dessau Institute of Architecture. Bauhaus School
Teasing the Grid

S E L E C T E D B I B L I O G R A P H Y :
Working Drawing
Alan Dunlop: e Architect December 2009
Fettes College Preparatory School, Edinburgh:
Alan Dunlop: Architects Journal 11 June, 2009
Opening Credits: Review of John Lautner Exhibition
Alan Dunlop RIBA Journal May 2009
Moorfields: Richard Desmond Childrens Eye Centre‟
Alan Dunlop, The Architects' Journal, 26th April 2007
„Lighthouse vision: Alan Dunlop on the legacy of 1999‟
Alan Dunlop, Prospect magazine and Architecture Scotland website, 17th April 2007
„RSC Courtyard Theatre‟
Alan Dunlop, The Architects' Journal, 7th September 2006
„Alan Dunlop feels the incorporation needs to modernise.‟
Alan Dunlop, Prospect magazine and Architecture Scotland website, 06th July 2006
“Challenging Contextualism” Published Monograph 2006
“My Architect‟ Interview with Nathaniel Kahn and Susan Behr
Alan Dunlop, Prospect Magazine, August 2005
McCabe: The RFACS Will Soon be Disbanded, But Before It Goes Alan Dunlop Comments on
Its Performance‟
Prospect, April 2004
„Bring on the Bulldozers‟
Alan Dunlop, The Herald, 8th June 2004
„Greek Tragedy or Demolition Mission‟
Alan Dunlop Evening Times, June 2004
„Acclaim for Hero Hides Ireland‟s Confidence‟
Alan Dunlop, Irish Times 9th March 2002
Manhattan Transfer‟
Alan Dunlop, Prospect, August 2000
The Building Blocks of Life‟
Alan Dunlop, The Scotsman, 29th June 2001
Clarion Call to Focus Attention on River of Change‟
Alan Dunlop, The Herald Essay

D R A W I N G
“God made paper for drawing architecture on.
Everything else is a misuse of paper.”
Alvar Aalto

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D R A W I N G
No computer generated image gets close to the spirit of a great drawing.
Look at the work of the great architect draughtsmen and you will see that a finely crafted line
drawing stands the test of time. They are a measure of the care that the architect feels for the
commission. No computer generated image gets close to the spirit of a great drawing.
The drawings of Vilhelm Wholert, no matter how sketchy or tentative, show extraordinary sensitivity
in composition, weight of line and detail. Sadly, pencil and paper no longer centre in the
creative act. Today's designers often appear detached from the drawing process and it shows..
Paul Rudolph was a brilliant architect and draughtsman who saw architecture as "a personal effort".
His students at Yale were “encouraged” to help fill in elaborate texture and shadow for the
master, sometimes working through the night in preparation for presentations to clients the next
day. In response, they included their names in the drawing of bushes and trees, leaf and grass. Tedious
perhaps but the finished drawings stand as works of art in themselves.
I encourage my students to hand draw and keep everything. It is important to experiment and to
find your own style and have had some success with students who have retreated from drawing.
For others though, there is a reluctance to draw that amounts to a phobia.
There is challenge in acquiring this essential skill but any aspiring student or architect can find joy
and reward in conquering the blank page. Attitudes might be shifting though. Recently, the biggest
cheer in the University of Washington‟s lecture hall went up when I said Sketch Up was the
spawn of the devil.
1 St Pancras Penthouse
2 Hazelwood Garden Sketch
3 Social Services Building
4 Riverfront Section
5 Commonwealth Games Master plan
6 Copenhagen Building
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Hazelwood is a school of children and young people, aged 2 to 18, who are blind and
deaf - “duel sensory impaired”. Architecturally, it is a new type of project. Many of the
school‟s children are physically handicapped and all have a degree of cognitive impairment.
Together they represent the most acutely disabled children on the City of Glasgow‟s education
role. They will need lifetime support.
I was determined to create a school which would support the needs of the children and
the aspirations of their parents, a place of safety and ambition that would free the teacher
and inspire the child.
Hazelwood School has been a real success. The children and young people respond well
to their new environment and appear to be thriving. They are supported by committed
teachers in a bespoke school that their parents love and take ownership for. The building
has received multiple national and international awards and I am delighted and humbled
by the response to it.

F E A T U R E D P R O J E C T :
H A Z E L W O O D S C H O O L
”Hazelwood School is an award winner, not just for the ways
it serves its unique student population. It exemplifies design
excellence in general “
Architectural Record, Schools of the 21st Century

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1 Garden
2 Cross section through site
3 Plan
4 Classroom
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"When our children leave this school, they will
not go into jobs or go and live in their own flat or
house- they will always need to be supported.
Adults who are blind and have learning
difficulties can lead passive lives. But the more
independence they have, the more choices they
will be able to make and the more stimulating
their lives will be.
The children move around as though they have
been here for their whole life and they adapted
to the school quicker than I did".
Monica McGeever, Head Teacher, Hazelwood
School.
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E X T E R N A L
1 Link to Senior Classrooms
2 Entrance and Staff Room
3 Sun Canopy
4 Ambient Light into Classrooms
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I N T E R N A L
1 Sensory Wall
2 Hydrotherapy Pool
3 Typical Classroom
4 Main Social Space
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S C H O O L D E S I G N
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1 Clackmannannshire Schools Initiative
2 Anniesland College
3 Commonwealth Games Masterplan
4 Hillhead Primary School
5 Merrylee Primary School 1
6 Merrylee Primary School 1
7 Merrylee Primary School 2
8 Merrylee primary School 2
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F E A T U R E D P R O J E C T :
The opportunity to create something special in
Glasgow, something that you would not
expect in a commercial project and underline
the principle that making a building first rate
architecture and also a real commercial success
are not incompatible objectives.

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1 Colour Cycle
2 Street View
3 Detail
4 Transparency
5 Concept development
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F E A T U R E D P R O J E C T
R A D I S S O N S A S H O T E L :
The Radisson SAS is within a once rundown area of the city which is now part of Glasgow‟s
new financial services district and an interesting response to an uninspiring context. The dominant
feature is a 60 metre long sculptural wall, clad in pre-patinated copper. The wall accommodates
the shift from the city‟s Victorian grid edge on the north side, to the older street line to
the south which stretches down to the river.
A full height atrium sits between the wall and the main body of the hotel. At ground level the
atrium is fully glazed onto the street and has a number of public functions, including a restaurant
and bar. Glass lifts glide up and down the five storey atrium and guests cross a glass bridge
to a suite of specialist rooms. Internally the sculptural wall is glad in timber to look like steel
plate and reminiscent of the great ships that were once built nearby.
The Radisson SAS has succeeded in bringing glamour and drama to Glasgow and evokes parallels
some of the USA‟s grandest hotels.
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1 Entrance at night
2 Reception
3 Foyer: The Great Ship
4 Sculptural Wall
5 Courtyard
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Glasgow Central Station sits at the heart of the city
and contains one of Europe‟s most impressive public
spaces. It connects Glasgow to the south and
Scotland‟s west coast and millions of Glaswegians
have passed through since it first opened to the
public in 1874.
It is a Grade A listed structure and the flagship of
Railtrack's Station Regeneration Programme in
Scotland.
F E A T U R E D P R O J E C T :
G L A S G O W C E N T R A L S T A T I O N

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Cross Section

3 1 Public realm
2 Site section
3 Aerial view
4 Radisson SAS Hotel
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F E A T U R E D P R O J E C T :
J K S W O R K S H O P S
Inexpensive start up warehouse units with a design edge. The brief was straightforward
and the budget tight. The blocks are basic but lifted by the use of strong colour,
light boxes and pattern.
Known as the Castle Stitch, the pattern gives the units a distinct identity and was
used on Singer sewing machines. The Singer company was one of the areas largest
employers until the factory closed in 1980.

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1 Strong colour
2 Contrasting panel and Light box
3 Local colour
4 Street front
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Hazelwood School
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S E L E C T E D A W A R D S
2009
British Council For School Environments Award
2009
IDA International Design Award
2009
Royal Institute of the Architects of Ireland Award
2009
WAN Awards: World Education Building of the Year, Second Placing
2008
Royal Scottish Academy: Royal Gold Medal for Architecture
2008
Civic Trust Award
2008
Design Share ; Honor Award
2008
Premio Internazionale Dedalo Minosse Alla Committenza di Architettura (selected)
2008
Chicago Athenaeum Museum Of Architecture and Design International Award
2007
Royal Institute of British Architects Award
2006
British Construction Industry Award
2006
Royal Institute of British Architects Award
2005
Royal Institute of British Architects Award
2003

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Spectrum

S E L E C T E D A W A R D S
2003
Joint European Union/ Europa Nostra Cultural Heritage Award
2003
Scottish Design Awards; Grand Prix for Architecture
2003
Royal Institute of the Architects of Ireland: Special Award
2000
British Construction Industry Award/
3AAA: Technical & Resources
Glasgow Social Services Building
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A L A N D U N L O P FRIAS FRSA
K A T E D U N L O P LLB MBA FCIPD FRSA