Neil Simpson studied architecture in Canada at the University of Waterloo (1989) including a term in Rome and worked as an architect in Toronto and Barcelona before returning to Edinburgh in 1992, where he was born (1963). Neil has collaborated with several Edinburgh studios on celebrated buildings including, in the Old Town the Scottish Poetry Library (1999) and the Scottish Storytelling Centre (2005), before setting up his own studio in 2005. He holds a Masters in City and Regional Planning from the University of Glasgow (2013) and his research interests include state-market relations in urban development, prescriptive design guidance, typo-morphological descriptors of urban form and urban design in historic contexts. An architecture tutor since 1999, initially at Edinburgh University, Neil currently leads the urban design studio of the Masters programme at the Mackintosh School of Architecture, Glasgow School of Art. As a board member of a civic amenity group Neil has contributed to the public debate on urban design of key projects in the centre of Edinburgh and this continues in his current position as a director of a community development trust based in the Old Town.