Neil Gillespie, OBE, Architecture & Design, Debrett's 500 2016, People of Influence

Neil Gillespie, OBE

Director, Reiach and Hall

Edinburgh-based architecture practice Reiach and Hall was established in 1965 by Alan Reiach and Eric Hall, and has been winning awards for its refined and elegant buildings over three generations of management. Director Neil Gillespie has spent most of his career with the practice, overseeing its diverse portfolio of residential, civic, commercial, leisure and healthcare projects both in Edinburgh, ‘where looks are everything’, and further afield. In 2015 the firm’s Maggie’s Cancer Centre in Lanarkshire won the RIBA Award for Scotland, the RIAS Award, and a nomination for the Stirling Prize. For the last three years Reiach and Hall has been named Architectural Practice of the Year by the Scottish Design Awards. Gillespie, who cites the 1950s as his favourite period for architecture, studied at Edinburgh College of Art. In 2015 he sat on the selection panel for RIBA’s Gold Medal, awarded to Zaha Hadid.