[2] He has published numerous articles and books including The Formation of English Gothic : Architecture and Identity, for which he won two prestigious awards; the Spiro Kostof Book Award from the Society of Architectural Historians in 2008[3] and the Alice Davis Hitchcock Medallion in 2009, awarded by the Society of Architectural Historians of Great Britain.
[4] After graduating from King's College, Cambridge in 1964, Draper went onto study for a PhD at the Courtauld Institute of Art where he was taught by the renowned medievalist, Peter Kidson, whose "inspirational teaching", as Draper has said, motivated him into the study of architecture.
[5] Draper spent his early career as a librarian in the Conway Library at the Courtauld before taking up a position as lecturer at Birkbeck College in 1969.
[7] Peter Draper often takes his own photographs to illustrate his writing[8] and, while he was at the Courtauld, he donated photographs to the Conway Library, whose archive, of primarily architectural images, is in the process of being digitised as part of the wider Courtauld Connects project.
[10] First World War Cathedral Centenary Fabric Repairs Fund, member of expert panel, 2014[2] English Heritage Commissioner, appointed 1 September 2011[11] British Archaeological Association, President 2007–10,[12] joint editor of the Medieval Conference Transactions, 1978–82, Honorary Secretary, 1968-72[1] Society of Architectural Historians of Great Britain President 2000–4,[13] Honorary Editor of Architectural History, 1985-92[1] Cathedrals Fabric Commission for England, member 2001-11[1] Fabric Advisory Committee Southwark Cathedral, Chairman 1995–2008,[2] member 1992-2016[14]