Ptolemy Hugo Dean (born 1968) is a British

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 ...

, television presenter and the 19th

Surveyor of the Fabric of Westminster Abbey The post of Surveyor of the Fabric of Westminster Abbey was established in 1698. The role is an architectural one, with the current holder being responsible for the upkeep and maintenance of Westminster Abbey, the Abbey and its buildings. In the p ...

. He specialises in

historic preservation Historic preservation (US), built heritage preservation or built heritage conservation (UK) is an endeavor that seeks to preserve, conserve and protect buildings, objects, landscapes or other artifacts of historical significance. It is a philos ...

, as well as designing new buildings that are in keeping with their historic or natural settings. He is best known for his appearances on two

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

television series, '' Restoration'' and ''The Perfect Village.''

Personal

Dean is the son of Jenefer Dean and Joseph Dean, a judge, and the grandson of the actor and impresario

Basil Dean Basil Herbert Dean CBE (27 September 1888 – 22 April 1978) was an English actor, writer, producer and director in the theatre and in cinema. He founded the Liverpool Playhouse, Liverpool Repertory Company in 1911 and in the First World War, a ...

; his uncle is the noted

musicologist Musicology is the academic, research-based study of music, as opposed to musical composition or performance. Musicology research combines and intersects with many fields, including psychology, sociology, acoustics, neurology, natural sciences, f ...

Winton Dean Winton Basil Dean (18 March 1916 – 19 December 2013) was an English musicologist of the 20th century, most famous for his research on the life and works—in particular the operas and oratorios—of George Frideric Handel, as detailed in his bo ...

. Ptolemy Dean grew up in Wye in

Kent Kent is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Essex across the Thames Estuary to the north, the Strait of Dover to the south-east, East Sussex to the south-west, Surrey to the west, and Gr ...

. One of his sisters is called Antigone, the other is the artist Tacita Dean. He attended Kent College, Canterbury. He studied architecture first at the Bartlett School of Architecture at

University College London University College London (Trade name, branded as UCL) is a Public university, public research university in London, England. It is a Member institutions of the University of London, member institution of the Federal university, federal Uni ...

, then continued with a post-graduate diploma in architecture from the

University of Edinburgh The University of Edinburgh (, ; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals) is a Public university, public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Founded by the City of Edinburgh Council, town council under th ...

. At Edinburgh, Dean studied under the late-modernist Professor Isi Metzstein, building conservation engineer and writer Ted Ruddock and design critic Mike Duriez. Dean is a reported to have been a favourite of Queen

Elizabeth II Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary; 21 April 19268 September 2022) was Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms from 6 February 1952 until Death and state funeral of Elizabeth II, her death in 2022. ...

, and a regular guest of the Royal Family.

Career

Architecture

After finishing his academic studies, Dean received funding from the International Council on Monuments and Sites (ICOMOS) to document mud adobe structures in

New Mexico New Mexico is a state in the Southwestern United States, Southwestern region of the United States. It is one of the Mountain States of the southern Rocky Mountains, sharing the Four Corners region with Utah, Colorado, and Arizona. It also ...

and

Arizona Arizona is a U.S. state, state in the Southwestern United States, Southwestern region of the United States, sharing the Four Corners region of the western United States with Colorado, New Mexico, and Utah. It also borders Nevada to the nort ...

. He then worked for Peter Inskip and Peter Jenkins Architects on a variety of Grade I

listed buildings In the United Kingdom, a listed building is a structure of particular architectural or historic interest deserving of special protection. Such buildings are placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, H ...

, including

Stowe House Stowe House is a grade I listed building, listed country house in Stowe, Buckinghamshire, Stowe, Buckinghamshire, England. It is the home of the Private schools in the United Kingdom, private Stowe School and is owned by the Stowe House Preserv ...

, Chastleton House and

Waddesdon Manor Waddesdon Manor is a English country house, country house in the village of Waddesdon, in Buckinghamshire, England. Owned by the National Trust and managed by the Rothschild Foundation, it is one of the National Trust's most visited properties, ...

. Ptolemy completed the

Society for the Protection of Ancient Buildings The Society for the Protection of Ancient Buildings (SPAB) (also known as Anti-Scrape) is an amenity society founded by William Morris, Philip Webb, and others in 1877 to oppose the Victorian restoration, destructive 'restoration' of ancient bu ...

scholarship. He has worked for a number of Britain's more traditionally influenced architects, including Sir William Whitfield,

neo-classicist Neoclassicism, also spelled Neo-classicism, emerged as a Western cultural movement in the decorative and visual arts, literature, theatre, music, and architecture that drew inspiration from the art and culture of classical antiquity. Neoclassici ...

John Simpson, Sir Frederick Gibberd and Richard Griffiths. At Griffiths', he provided heritage assistance in obtaining planning consent for

RHWL RHWL Architects (originally Renton Howard Wood Associates) was a British architecture practice based in London, Berlin and Qatar. It was created by Andrew Renton, Peter Howard and Humphrey Wood following the establishment of Andrew Renton & Associ ...

architects' post-modern influenced extension to St Pancras Chambers. He now runs his own small practice, Ptolemy Dean Architects, near

Borough Market Borough Market is a wholesale and retail market hall in Southwark, London, England. It is one of the largest and oldest food markets in London, with a market on the site dating back to at least the 12th century. The present buildings were built ...

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

. From March 2012 he has also worked as

, where in 2018 he designed Weston Tower, a new Gothic lift access to upstairs galleries, the most significant addition to the building since

Nicholas Hawksmoor Nicholas Hawksmoor ( – 25 March 1736) was an English architect. He was a leading figure of the English Baroque style of architecture in the late-seventeenth and early-eighteenth centuries. Hawksmoor worked alongside the principal architects ...

's west towers were completed in 1745, and which was the subject of a profile on the

Sky Arts Sky Arts (originally launched as Artsworld) is a British free-to-air television channel offering 24 hours a day of programmes dedicated to highbrow arts, including theatrical performances, films, documentaries and music (such as opera perfor ...

programme '' The Art of Architecture'' in 2019. Dean was appointed

Officer of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

(OBE) in the

2019 Birthday Honours The 2019 Queen's Birthday Honours are appointments by some of the 16 Commonwealth realms of Queen Elizabeth II to various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by citizens of those countries. The Birthday Honours are awarded as ...

for services to heritage and design.

Books

Dean has written and illustrated two books on the 19th-century British architect Sir John Soane, and co-written a study of London's historic

Television

Dean has appeared with Marianne Suhr as the resident "ruin detective" on the

BBC Two BBC Two is a British free-to-air Public service broadcasting in the United Kingdom, public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's second flagship channel, and it covers a wide range of subject matte ...

television programme ''Restoration''. In his seven-episode series ''The Perfect Village'', on

BBC Four BBC Four is a British free-to-air Public service broadcasting in the United Kingdom, public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It was launched on 2 March 2002

, Dean visited 12 English villages and discussed the qualities that would create the "perfect village."

Art and illustration

As seen in his television appearances, Dean produces watercolour cityscapes and architectural renderings or illustrations. These are done in a wobbly line pen and ink technique with evocative colour washes, broadly influenced by the English tradition typified by Samuel Palmer.

Publications

*Dean, Ptolemy. ''Sir John Soane and the Country Estate'' (Aldershot: Ashgate, 1999; ). *Dean, Ptolemy, et al.. ''The Borough Market Book: From Roots to Renaissance'' (London: Civic Books, 2004; ). *Dean, Ptolemy. ''Sir John Soane and London'' (Aldershot: Lund Humphries, 2006; ). *Dean, Ptolemy. ''Britain's Buildings: Places & Spaces'' (London: Dorling Kindersley, 2008; ). *Dean, Ptolemy. ''Streetscapes: Historic Routes through English Towns: Navigating Historic English Towns'' (London: Lund Humphries, 2024; ).

References

External links

Ptolemy Dean Architects website
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Dean, Ptolemy Living people Architects from Kent Alumni of the Bartlett Alumni of the University of Edinburgh Place of birth missing (living people) People educated at Kent College 1968 births Preservationist architects Officers of the Order of the British Empire