Alan has more than 40 years post-qualification experience in architecture. His professional experience started in 1974 as the office junior at Gwent County Council, and went on to include fifteen years in private practice in Central London, interspersed with stints where he returned to South Wales. He co-founded Gaunt Francis Architects in 1997.
Although all projects in Gaunt Francis are developed collaboratively, those which have Alan’s personal stamp include Llys Cadwyn – the town centre mixed-use scheme in Pontypridd; the Parkgate Hotel in Cardiff which opened in 2023; the conversion and upgrading of Lutyens grade II* masterpiece ‘Britannic House’ in the City of London; the conversion of the grade II* former Public Record Office in London’s Chancery Lane into the Maughan library for Kings College London, and the British Council’s new-build headquarters in Cairo, Egypt.
Alan was Chair of the Design Commission for Wales from 2006 – 2016 at a time when a number of major projects for Wales were under scrutiny (including Central Square in Cardiff and the Cyfarthfa Ironworks masterplan) and when heavyweight discussions were in hand with Welsh Government about the energy debate and impact on Welsh Building Regulations.
In July 2024 he was elected President of the Royal Society of Architects in Wales.
Although now in the later stages of his 7th decade, he continues to work full-time in the office believing WFH has many drawbacks. He is often still sketching at the drawing board, acknowledging the many benefits that computers provide, but still believing that freehand drawing is a skill architects can’t afford to lose.