Scott Duncan is a partner in SOM’s Chicago office, where he leads the design of high-rise and mixed-use projects locally and around the world. Since joining SOM in 1998, he has championed the firm’s vision for integrated design, leading interdisciplinary teams of experts to realize highly contextual and impactful work. He takes a holistic approach to design, incorporating emerging ideas and research in urbanism and sustainability, with a focus on quality of life, planetary health, and improving cities.

He has amassed extensive experience in the design and implementation of complex projects throughout the United States, Asia, India, Australia, and the Middle East, including large-scale mixed-use, transportation, commercial, hospitality, and residential developments. Duncan plays a key role in the firm’s commitment to Chicago, where he is currently leading the designs of several large-scale mixed-use projects, including 400 Lake Shore Drive, Lincoln Yards, and 330 North Green Street.

Duncan’s portfolio includes Central Place Sydney, a new civic and technological center in Sydney; 600 Lonsdale, a solar-responsive, biophilic mixed-use high rise in Melbourne; Moynihan Train Hall, an expansion to Penn Station in New York City; a proposed 500-meter tower in Nanjing, China; the Shenzhen Rural Commercial Bank Headquarters, a naturally ventilated tower in Bao’an, Shenzhen; the headquarters of WeBank, a vertical campus for China’s first online-only bank in Shenzhen; and One Bangkok, a 16-hectare sustainable district in central Bangkok that comprises several towers and is the first project in Thailand to target LEED® Platinum certification for Neighborhood Development.

Duncan serves as Chair of the Height and Data Committee of the Council for Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat, a member of the Board of Directors of the SOM Foundation, and a leader of The Earth Project, SOM’s multidisciplinary research project on planetary health. He has lectured or served as a guest critic at the Harvard University Graduate School of Design, Columbia University’s Graduate School of Architecture, Planning & Preservation, the Illinois Institute of Technology, and the University of Michigan. Duncan regularly serves as a jury member for architectural awards programs around the world.

Duncan’s work has been recognized by the American Institute of Architects, the Municipal Art Society of New York, and MIPIM Asia. His projects have been exhibited at the Venice Biennale of Architecture, the Skyscraper Museum, and the Chicago Architecture Biennial.