Malcolm Fraser (born 21 July 1959) is an

architect An architect is a person who plans, designs and oversees the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to provide services in connection with the design of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the buildings that h ...

from

Edinburgh Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian ...

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

. He was the founder of '
Malcolm Fraser Architects
'', a firm of architects based in the

Old Town of Edinburgh The Old Town ( sco, Auld Toun) is the name popularly given to the oldest part of Scotland's capital city of Edinburgh. The area has preserved much of its medieval street plan and many Scottish Reformation, Reformation-era buildings. Together w ...

from 1993. The company entered liquidation on 21 August 2015 and Fraser worked wit
Halliday Fraser Munro Architects
before setting up anew with Robin Livingstone a
Fraser/Livingstone Architects
in January 2019.

Biography

Alexander Malcolm Fraser was born on 21 July 1959 to Margaret (''née'' Watters) and William Fraser (Structural engineer, with Blyth and Blyth, for many of Edinburgh's best post-war buildings). He attended

George Watson's College George Watson's College is a co-educational Independent school (United Kingdom), independent day school in Scotland, situated on Colinton Road, in the Merchiston area of Edinburgh. It was first established as a Scottish education in the eight ...

, going on to study architecture at the

University of Edinburgh The University of Edinburgh ( sco, University o Edinburgh, gd, Oilthigh Dhùn Èideann; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in post-nominals) is a public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Granted a royal charter by King James VI in 15 ...

, graduating with an MA Hons, DipArch in 1985. Following University he worked as a community architect in

Wester Hailes Wester Hailes is an area in the south west of Edinburgh, Scotland. Wester Hailes borders on Kingsknowe and Longstone to the east. Bankhead Industrial Estate and Sighthill Park lie to the north. History Although named after a large private ho ...

in Edinburgh; with architect and theorist

Christopher Alexander Christopher Wolfgang John Alexander (4 October 1936 – 17 March 2022) was an Austrian-born British-American architect and design theorist. He was an emeritus professor at the University of California, Berkeley. His theories about the nature o ...

in Berkeley, California; conservation practices in Edinburgh; and with poet and artist

Ian Hamilton Finlay Ian Hamilton Finlay, CBE (28 October 1925 – 27 March 2006) was a Scottish poet, writer, artist and gardener. Life Finlay was born in Nassau, Bahamas, to James Hamilton Finlay and his wife, Annie Pettigrew, both of Scots descent. He was ...

at his garden,

Little Sparta Little Sparta is a garden at Dunsyre in the Pentland Hills in South Lanarkshire, Scotland, created by artist and poet Ian Hamilton Finlay and his wife Sue Finlay, since 1966. The Arcadian garden includes concrete poetry in sculptural form, ...

, near Edinburgh. He founded his architectural practice, Malcolm Fraser Architects, in 1993. It first made its name developing bars and restaurants for clients such as

Pizza Express PizzaExpress is a British multinational restaurant group, owned by a group of bondholders. It has over 470 restaurants across the United Kingdom and 100 overseas in Europe, Hong Kong, China, India, Indonesia, Kuwait, the Philippines, the Unite ...

, and with lottery-funded arts projects. The practice's work encompassed conservation and new build, often in historic contexts such as Edinburgh's

World Heritage Site A World Heritage Site is a landmark or area with legal protection by an international convention administered by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). World Heritage Sites are designated by UNESCO for h ...

, based on respect for the historic built context and the need to build within it in a rooted, confident, contemporary way. Its Edinburgh Climate Change Institute, for the University of Edinburgh, became the first listed building to achieve

BREEAM BREEAM (Building Research Establishment Environmental Assessment Method), first published by the Building Research Establishment (BRE) in 1990, is the world's longest established method of assessing, rating, and certifying the sustainability of ...

"Outstanding" award. The practice won eight RIBA awards and also completed masterplanning and construction work for volume housebuilders that won for them, for the first time in Scotland, major awards - for The Drum,

Bo'ness Borrowstounness (commonly known as Bo'ness ( )) is a town and former burgh and seaport on the south bank of the Firth of Forth in the Central Lowlands of Scotland. Historically part of the county of West Lothian, it is a place within the Falki ...

West Lothian West Lothian ( sco, Wast Lowden; gd, Lodainn an Iar) is one of the 32 council areas of Scotland, and was one of its shires of Scotland, historic counties. The county was called Linlithgowshire until 1925. The historic county was bounded geogra ...

and Princess Gate,

Fairmilehead Fairmilehead is a district of southern Edinburgh, Scotland. It lies approximately due south of the city centre and borders Midlothian. The area comprises the neighbourhoods of Buckstone, Caiyside, Caiystane, Swanston, Frogston and Winton. T ...

, Edinburgh. The practice ceased trading in 2015, after 22 years o
work
bu
Fraser/Livingstone Architects
continue its work of cultural regeneration, community empowerment and an enlarged view of sustainability that encompasses heritage, retrofit and regeneration – ''social closening'', in all its forms. Fraser married architec
Helen Lucas
in 1988 and has one son and two daughters.

Advocacy

Edinburgh

The practice, between 1999 and 2009, won th
Edinburgh Architectural Association
(EAA) Building of the Year/Silver Medal six times, the Conservation award twice plus othe
EAA
Awards and Commendations. Using this as a platform Fraser has campaigned about built environment issues in Edinburgh, including initiatives for Princes Street, the Grassmarket and the redevelopment of Boroughmuir High School.

Public life

In 2002, Fraser was appointed as the inaugural Deputy-Chair o
Architecture and Design Scotland
– a non-departmental public body (or

quango A quango or QUANGO (less often QuANGO or QANGO) is an organisation to which a government has devolved power, but which is still partly controlled and/or financed by government bodies. The term was originally a shortening of "quasi-NGO", where NG ...

) which acts as the Scottish Government's advisor on the

built environment The term built environment refers to human-made conditions and is often used in architecture, landscape architecture, urban planning, public health, sociology, and anthropology, among others. These curated spaces provide the setting for human ac ...

. He resigned in 2004 over the organisation's unwillingness to examine whether the UK Government's use of Public-Private Partnerships for public buildings such as schools represented value-for-money. Fraser was appointed

visiting professor In academia, a visiting scholar, visiting researcher, visiting fellow, visiting lecturer, or visiting professor is a scholar from an institution who visits a host university to teach, lecture, or perform research on a topic for which the visitor ...

at the

University of the West of England The University of the West of England (also known as UWE Bristol) is a public research university, located in and around Bristol, England. The institution was know as the Bristol Polytechnic in 1970; it received university status in 1992 and ...

in 2003 and Geddes Honorary

Professorial Fellow A research fellow is an academic research position at a university or a similar research institution, usually for academic staff or faculty members. A research fellow may act either as an independent investigator or under the supervision of a pr ...

at the

Edinburgh School of Architecture and Landscape Architecture The Edinburgh School of Architecture and Landscape Architecture (ESALA) is part of Edinburgh College of Art at the University of Edinburgh in Scotland. The school was ranked 5th in the UK in the 2013 Guardian University Guide and 4th in the Com ...

, part of the

, in 2009. He has also lectured in Europe, China and North America. Fraser sits on the board of th
Common Weal
a Scottish think tank, campaigning and advocacy organisation. During the run-up to the 2014 Scottish Independence Referendum Fraser acted as spokesman for the group 'Architects for Yes'.

VAT

During his time as a columnist for the weekly architectural journa
Building Design
in 2003, Fraser initiated a Flat VAT campaign to standardise

Value Added Tax A value-added tax (VAT), known in some countries as a goods and services tax (GST), is a type of tax that is assessed incrementally. It is levied on the price of a product or service at each stage of production, distribution, or sale to the end ...

across new build (currently 0%) and repair (then 17.5%) that was taken up by

Richard Rodgers Richard Charles Rodgers (June 28, 1902 – December 30, 1979) was an American Musical composition, composer who worked primarily in musical theater. With 43 Broadway musicals and over 900 songs to his credit, Rodgers was one of the most ...

and Debra Shipley MP but rejected by the then

Chancellor of the Exchequer The chancellor of the Exchequer, often abbreviated to chancellor, is a senior minister of the Crown within the Government of the United Kingdom, and head of His Majesty's Treasury. As one of the four Great Offices of State, the Chancellor is ...

Gordon Brown James Gordon Brown (born 20 February 1951) is a British former politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Labour Party (UK), Leader of the Labour Party from 2007 to 2010. He previously served as Chance ...

MP.

Banks

Fraser acted as spokesman for th
Merger Action Group
of Scottish businessmen who took

Her Majesty's Government ga, Rialtas a Shoilse gd, Riaghaltas a Mhòrachd , image = HM Government logo.svg , image_size = 220px , image2 = Royal Coat of Arms of the United Kingdom (HM Government).svg , image_size2 = 180px , caption = Royal Arms , date_es ...

to the

Competition Appeal Tribunal The Competition Appeal Tribunal (CAT) of the United Kingdom was created by Section 12 and Schedule 2 to the Enterprise Act 2002 which came into force on 1 April 2003. The Competition Service is an executive non-departmental public body which ...

over the Government's alleged "ripping-up" of legislation and failure to heed anti-competition warnings when it enabled the acquisition of

HBOS HBOS plc was a banking and insurance company in the United Kingdom, a wholly owned subsidiary of the Lloyds Banking Group, having been taken over in January 2009. It was the holding company for Bank of Scotland plc, which operated the Bank ...

Lloyds TSB Lloyds Bank plc is a British retail and commercial bank with branches across England and Wales. It has traditionally been considered one of the " Big Four" clearing banks. Lloyds Bank is the largest retail bank in Britain, and has an exte ...

in 2008.

Town Centre Review

Fraser led and authored the Scottish Government's Town Centre Review
Community and Enterprise in Scotland's Town Centres
, which looked to structural change to bring investment and footfall in towns. The Government's response included adopting the review's recommendation for
"Town Centre First"
principle across all its activities.

Main completed work and awards

Projects in chronological order with year of completion, major awards and citations: *

Scottish Poetry Library The Scottish Poetry Library is a public library specialising in Scottish poetry. Since 1999, the library has been based at 5 Crichton's Close, just off the Canongate in Edinburgh's Old Town. History and status The library was founded in 1984 ...

, Edinburgh: 1999 **

Royal Scottish Academy The Royal Scottish Academy (RSA) is the country’s national academy of art. It promotes contemporary Scottish art. The Academy was founded in 1826 by eleven artists meeting in Edinburgh. Originally named the Scottish Academy, it became the ...

Gold Medal for Architecture: 1997 ** Winner
RIBA Award
2000 **

Prospect 100 best modern Scottish buildings In 2005, the Scottish architecture magazine ''Prospect'' published a list of the 100 best modern Scottish buildings, as voted for by its readers. See also * DoCoMoMo Key Scottish Monuments DoCoMoMo Key Scottish Monuments is a list of 60 notabl ...

: no.9Retrieved 2009-12-12.
DanceBase
Edinburgh: 2001 ** Winner,

RIAS Andrew Doolan Award for Architecture All types of architectural projects in Scotland are eligible, including new-build, regeneration, restoration, extensions and interiors. List of winners and nominees 2022 Shortlist * Forth Valley College – Falkirk Campus, Falkirk by Reiach ...

: 2002 ** Winner
RIBA Award
2002 ** Finalist,

Stirling Prize The Royal Institute of British Architects Stirling Prize is a British prize for excellence in architecture. It is named after the architect James Stirling, organised and awarded annually by the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA). The S ...

: 2002
The Drum

Bo’ness Borrowstounness (commonly known as Bo'ness ( )) is a town and former burgh and seaport on the south bank of the Firth of Forth in the Central Lowlands of Scotland. Historically part of the county of West Lothian, it is a place within the Falki ...

: 2003 **

Saltire Society The Saltire Society is a membership organisation which aims to promote the understanding of the culture and heritage of Scotland. Founded in 1936, the society was "set up to promote and celebrate the uniqueness of Scottish culture and Scotland’s ...

br>Housing Award
2005
Dance City

Newcastle upon Tyne Newcastle upon Tyne ( RP: , ), or simply Newcastle, is a city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England. The city is located on the River Tyne's northern bank and forms the largest part of the Tyneside built-up area. Newcastle is ...

: 2005 ** Winner
RIBA Award
2007 *

Scottish Storytelling Centre The Scottish Storytelling Centre, the world's first purpose-built modern centre for live storytelling, is located on the High Street in Edinburgh's Royal Mile, Scotland, United Kingdom. It was formally opened on 1 June 2006 by Patricia Fergus ...

, Edinburgh: 2006 ** Winner
RIBA Award
2007

The Mound, Edinburgh: 2006

Edinburgh: 2007
Berwick Workspace

Berwick-upon-Tweed Berwick-upon-Tweed (), sometimes known as Berwick-on-Tweed or simply Berwick, is a town and civil parish in Northumberland, England, south of the Anglo-Scottish border, and the northernmost town in England. The 2011 United Kingdom census recor ...

: 2007 ** Winner
RIBA Award
2009
Dovecot Studios
Edinburgh: 2009 ** Winner
RIBA Award
2010 *

Scottish Ballet Scottish Ballet is the national ballet company of Scotland and one of the five leading ballet companies of the United Kingdom, alongside the Royal Ballet, English National Ballet, Birmingham Royal Ballet and Northern Ballet. Founded in 1969, ...

br>headquarters at The Tramway
Glasgow: 2009 ** Winner
Scottish Design Awards: Architecture Grand Prix and Best Public Building
2010
Royal Conservatoire of Scotland
Speir's Lock Studio, Glasgow: 2011 and 2015 ** Winner, RIBA Award. *

Linlithgow Burgh Halls Linlithgow Burgh Halls is a municipal structure at The Cross, Linlithgow, Scotland. The complex includes the Town House, the former headquarters of Linlithgow Burgh Council, which is a Category A listed building. and the Old County Hall, the for ...

: 2012
Edinburgh Climate Change Institute
Edinburgh: 2014 ** Winner
Edinburgh Architectural Association Best Building of the Year; RICS Building Conservation Award; Scottish Design Award for Education Building
2014 ** BREEAM "Outstanding". *

br>Arcadia Nursery
King's Buildings, Edinburgh: 2014 ** Winner
Scottish Design Awards: Best education building; Edinburgh Architectural Association Awards Wood Award; Edinburgh Architectural Association's Building of the Year Award(Commendation)
2015 Also
RIAS Award; RIBA Award; Wood for Good/ Forestry Commission Scotland Award; Zero Waste Scotland's Efficiency Award
2015 * West Pilton Crescent Council Housing, Edinburgh: 2015 ** Winner
Saltire Award
2015 * Stromness Warehouse, Library and Council Hub, Orkney: 2015 ** Scottish Awards for Quality in Planning - Overall Winner 2017 ** RTPI Silver Jubilee Cup - Overall UK Winner * Lews Castle and Museum nan Eilan, Stornoway, Lewis: 2015 * Leith Fort Colonies (delivered by Collective Architecture) ** RIAS Award: 2018 ** Saltire Award & Medal: 2018 ** EAA Building of the Year - Highly Commended: 2018 ** Homes for Scotland - Affordable Housing of the Year: 2018 ** Scottish Design Awards - Affordable Housing of the Year: 2018 * Collective Gallery on Calton Hill (delivered by Collective Architecture) ** RIAS Award: 2019 ** RIBA Award: 2019 ** EAA Conservation Award – Commended: 2019 ** RAIS Doolan Award – shortlist: 2019 ** Civic Trust Awards – Highly Commended: 2021 * Bridgend Community Farmhouse, (delivered by Halliday Fraser Munro) ** MacEwan Award for social architecture – Commended: 2019 ** Scottish Design Awards – Regeneration Award: 2019 ** Scottish Civic Trust - My Place Commendation: 2019

References

External links

Official sit
Fraser/Livingstone Architects
{{DEFAULTSORT:Fraser, Malcolm 1959 births Living people Alumni of the University of Edinburgh Architects from Edinburgh 21st-century Scottish architects 20th-century Scottish architects