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Malcolm Fraser was born (in 1959) raised and schooled in Edinburgh.   Following graduation he worked as community architect in Wester Hailes – a large, disadvantaged but politicised peripheral Edinburgh housing "Scheme"; for Christopher Alexander in California – a theoretician, architect and builder with a radical critique of the poverty of most modern building; and, on occasion, for artist and philosopher Ian Hamilton Finlay, at his neo-classical garden of Little Sparta, in the Scottish Borders.

 

In the mid-1980s he went into conventional practice.   At that time there were few options for those not wanting to follow the well-trod path to London.   Fraser, in common with a significant majority of those now regarded as key members of the Scottish Architectural rebirth, went to work for Conservation architects, understanding that there lay a passion for the integrity of built environments that was missing in conventional practice.

 

Fraser set up his own practice, in Edinburgh, in 1993. With no particular ambitions towards fame or turnover he eschewed competitions, concentrating instead on understanding the needs and potential of small and friendly arts, restaurant and domestic clients, and the nature of the historic City of Edinburgh, where most of his early projects were located.

 

Small projects – well run, and artistic and commercial successes – led to larger ones, particularly fuelled by the growth of the café/hotel/nightclub culture, and the introduction of Lottery-funding for arts projects. Significant arts buildings, at that time, included the Scottish Poetry Library and DanceBase, completed in 1999 and 2001 respectively and both vigorous additions to the intricate mediaeval weave of Edinburgh's Old Town. The Scottish Poetry Library has been named as one of the ten most important post-1945 buildings in Scotland; while DanceBase, providing studios for professionals and community classes, won the inaugural Scottish Building of the Year Award and was a Stirling Prize finalist.   All the practice's principal buildings, which have included house extensions, hotels and visitor centres, have been multiple Award-winners, while Fraser has twice, in the last 5 years, been voted Scottish Architect of the Year by his peers.