Committed to creative, intentional invention as a design process and an outcome, Alan founded Metcalfe in 2001. The firm is intensely focused on user experience and behavior, both within and around its architecture; combining physical, visual, and experiential elements to socially engage people in a space or structure. 

Alan has worked as a carpenter and cabinetmaker, complementary fields that when combined with architecture, bring a functional and an arts perspective to his design work. It’s an interdisciplinary approach that he encourages throughout the firm, which merges the practice of architecture, exhibit design, and environmental graphic design into tailored experiences for users that deliver measurable results for its clients. 

Outside the studio, Alan is an advocate for responsive, high-quality design. A frequent lecturer to professional organizations, and visiting critic at local architecture schools, he serves on the boards of multiple non-profit community and cultural organizations and is an amateur musician. 

Alan holds a Master of Architecture degree from Columbia University, and a Bachelor of Arts degree in Art History from Tufts University.