Andrew Boo Seng Tan was born in Sarawak, Malaysia, in 1938. He was educated at St. Thomas’s School, Kuching (1948-1956), before studying for a Diploma in architecture at the Technical College (now University of Technology), Kuala Lumpur, from 1957-1961. He passed the RIBA Intermediate examination and then began employment at the Public Works Department (PWD) in Kuching, his tuition at the Technical College being given on the condition of him serving at least 5 years within the PWD. Tan then won a Commonwealth Scholarship to come to London and enrol in the Fourth-Year cohort of the Architectural Association’s (AA) five-year Diploma course. Surviving in the AA Archives is a long letter of support for Tan, written by Julius Posenor, who had taught him in Kuala Lumpur. For his final year at the AA, in 1964-65, Tan elected to join the Department of Tropical Studies programme and following a successful year was awarded the coveted AA Honours Diploma.  His final thesis was a highly regarded proposal entitled the 'Central Development and Urban Renewal of Wad Medani, Sudan', produced with his Singaporean classmate, Jack Eng Kiat Tan. Andrew appears to have almost immediately returned to Singapore, following graduation, and resumed at the PWD Buildings and Works Branch in Kuching, as an Engineering Assistant. By 1969, however, he had left public employment and was working for the practice of Norman Leyey and Associates, Architects and Town Planners, again based in Kuching. Five years later he is recorded as working for the major practice of Konsortium Malaysia, but details of his subsequent career are not yet known to us, beyond the fact that he became a Director at the practice of Arkitek KM, in Kuching, sometime after their establishment in 1998.

Sources

• Architectural Association Student Register, 1945-71. AA Archives
• Architectural Association, Registrar’s Office student records, 1960-66. AA Archives
• Architectural Association Diploma Roll, 1966. AA Archives
• Architectural Association Membership Register, 1969, 1974
• The Sarawak Government Gazette, 1966. Part 5, p79
• PAM Directory, Lembaga Arkitek Malaysia (Board of Architects, Malaysia). Online directory of registered architects, accessed 7th November, 2025: https://www.pamdirectory.my/profile_architect.aspx?id=b892b876-48d6-4a83-a904-1345f766c05f