Alexander Wright

Alex Wright is Professor of Architecture and Head of Architecture.

Alex is an Expert Advisor to The Department for Communities (NI) on architecture and the built environment.  In 2019 he was appointed as Chair of the Architecture Advisory Group by the Quality Assurance Agency (QAA) to advise on the revisions to its subject benchmark statement for Architecture.  Alex is currently Chair of the South West Design Review Panel for Creating Excellence and Chair of the Design Review Panel for South Gloucestershire for Design West.  He is currently a member of the RIBA’s Membership Eligibility Assessment Panel (MEAP) and a member of the RIBA Overseas Visiting Board Panel.  He currently also serves as an Independent Examiner for ARB and as a NED for the Aequus Group.

Alex has recently served as member of the External Evaluation Committee (EEC) by the Cyprus  Agency for Quality Assurance and Accreditation in Higher Education, and as a recorder for the UNESCO UIA (International Union of Architects) Validation Panel.   He has extensive experience as an External Examiner for undergraduate and postgraduate degrees in architecture in the UK and overseas.

Alex studied as an undergraduate at Bath before undertaking his Diploma in Architecture at Cambridge University and his Masters in Design at Harvard University’s Graduate School of Design, where he studied as a Harkness Fellow.  Alex’s professional background was as principal for 15 years in an award winning private architectural practice.  He was appointed as Director of Studies for the BSc in 2005 and became Head of Architecture in August 2008.  Alex was Associate Dean for Learning and Teaching for the period 2010-13.

Alex served two consecutive terms as a National Professional Representative on the Board of the ARB (Architects Registration Board) from 2012-2018. He previously acted as an independent consultant to the ARB in the implementation of the revised criteria for Prescribed Qualifications and served as a member of the ARB's Validation Advisory Group and its Prescription Committee . He was a member of the RIBA’s Education Review Group and Chair of SCOSA (Standing Conference of Schools of Architecture) for two consecutive terms from 2012-16.  He was Chair of the UK Architectural Review Group which published the report, “Pathways and Gateways:  the structure and regulation of architectural education”, in 2013.  He served as a Board member of the Built Environment Professional Education (BEPE) Project sponsored by the Department of Communities and Local Government and the Office for Disability Issues.

In 2024 Alex was the recipient of the SCOSA Lifetime Contribution Award in recognition of his oustanding contribution to architectural education, both nationally and internationally.  He led the Studio team which won the University of Bath's Best Team in Support of Student Learning Award in 2024.  Alex is a recipient of the Mary Tasker Award. This award is made by University of Bath in recognition of excellence in teaching (2008). In 2009 Alex received the Leadership in Learning and Teaching Award, and in 2011 he received the Innovation in Learning and Teaching Award, both from the University of Bath. In 2011 Alex was shortlisted for the Times Higher Education Innovative Teacher of the Year Award. Alex has been the key note lecturer and invited speaker at numerous conferences and events including the RIBA Education Forum (London 2015), the BAU International Conference on Architectural Education (Beirut 2016) and The Biennale of Architecture in Timisoara - BETA 2016 (Timisoara, 2016).

His published work is largely within the area of architectural education and pedagogy.