Annual General Meeting & Annual Dinner

After leaving Edinburgh University, Ptolemy Dean won an ICOMOS scholarship to document mud adobe structures in New Mexico and Arizona. He then worked for Peter Inskip and Peter Jenkins Architects on a variety of Grade I listed buildings. In 1993 he was one of the SPAB Lethaby Scholars, studying active repair methods on some of the country’s most prestigious sites. The final three month section of this was spent researching the country houses of Sir John Soane. A fellowship to research the ‘minor’ country works of Sir John Soane followed and this research lead to an exhibition in the Soane Museum entitled ‘Soane Revisited’ and the publication of a book on Soane’s country practice, published in 1999, followed by a second volume on Soane’s London works in 2006. In 1997 he attended the Attingham Summer School for the study of the English Country House and was an architectural adviser to the BBC 2 ‘Restoration’ programme for three series in 2003-6

Ptolemy Dean joined Richard Griffiths Architects in 1994. He has been responsible for the £5m Millennium project at Southwark Cathedral, involving the cleaning and floodlighting of the Cathedral, the refurbishment of the vestries, and the creation of a major new building to the north of the Cathedral.

In July 2005 Ptolemy Dean established Ptolemy Dean Architects. The practice has continued to work with many of his established clients and seeks new challenging work both to and in the context of historic buildings. In March 2012 Ptolemy Dean was appointed Surveyor of the Fabric at Westminster Abbey. This appointment was followed by the successful delivery of the award-winning Westminster Abbey Queen’s Diamond Jubilee Galleries project. Ptolemy has also recently been appointed Foundation Architect of Christ Church, Oxford.

In addition to his work in practice, Ptolemy has served on the London Advisory Panel of English Heritage and the Architectural Panel of the National Trust. He currently serves on the Salisbury Cathedral Fabric Advisory Committee, the committee of SAVE Britain’s Heritage, and is a Trustee of the Landmark Trust. Ptolemy Dean was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the 2019 Birthday Honours for services to heritage and design. Ptolemy was made an Honorary Doctor of the Arts by the University of Kent in 2022 in recognition of his significant contribution to architecture, conservation and heritage.