A Singaporean citizen of Chinese origin, Choon Peng Lee was born in 1945, and educated in the Anglo-Chinese School, Singapore (1958-63) and the University Tutorial College, London (1964-65). In 1965, he enrolled at the School of Architecture at Southend College of Technology in Essex. Because the School of Architecture had closed down the following year, in 1966, he moved back to Singapore and completed his undergraduate education at the Singapore Polytechnic School of Architecture. In 1968, he returned yet again to the UK to join the Architectural Association as a fourth-year student, where his admission application demonstrated a diverse range of interests spanning music with experience as a violinist leading a youth symphony orchestra, as well as painting and sports. Lee approached his architectural education through an interest in people, their varied cultures, and how community overlaps with buildings – informed by his own upbringing in a multi-racial environment. In his final year of studies, he elected to join the AA’s Department of Development and Tropical Studies programme and developed his thesis jointly with his colleague, Ashok B. Lall, about settlements on reclaimed land in Singapore. In 1970, he graduated from the AA, earning his Diploma and DTA certificate. After graduating, Lee seems to have immediately moved back to Singapore and, in 1971, he applied for corporate membership in RIBA by post. It appears that from 1987 to 1996, he have worked at Akitek Tenggarra II, alongside leading local practitioner and advocate of tropical design, Tay Kheng Soon.

 Sources

• Architectural Association Student Register 1945‐1972, AA Archives
• Architectural Association Diploma Roll Book, 1964-75, AA Archives  
• Architectural Association Student Records Microfiche Files, 1968-1973, AA Archives
• UK parliament, House of Commons, Southend School Of Architecture (Closure), Hansard Volume 729: Tuesday 24 May 1966
• Genealogy of Architectural Practices in Singapore, 2nd edition, Singapore Institute of Architects. Accessed 28th April, 2025, https://singaporearchitect.sg/genealogy