First studied philosophy, then architecture at UCD and later architecture at University of California Berkeley. Following a time in architectural practice in London and Dublin, he began teaching in design studio and the history and theory of architecture at the School of Architecture UCD. He then engaged with urban communities on environmental issues, co-founding the Urban Workshop in Dublin in the 1970s. He was appointed Director of Conservation Studies and later Professor of Architecture at UCD. He has been instrumental in developing successive Government policies on architecture and architectural heritage protection. Now Emeritus Professor of Architecture and Fellow of the Royal Institute of the Architects of Ireland, he advises national and international bodies, helping to shape public policy on architecture and the protection of the built cultural inheritance.