Alexander Wingate was born in Hillhead, Glasgow on 1 September 1875 and was articled to Miles Septimus Gibson (1848-1906) in Glasgow from 1892 to 1897. He also studied architecture at Glasgow School of Art from 1892 to 1896. After completing his articles he moved to London where he worked as an assistant to John Burnet (1814-1901) and John James Burnet (1857-1938) of J. Burnet & Son from 1897 to 1899, and to Arthur Beresford Pite (1861-1934) from 1899 to 1903. After a period travelling in Continental Europe in 1904-05, Wingate returned to Scotland and in 1905 commenced independent practice in Glasgow. He worked alone until 1914 when he formed what was to be a short-lived a partnership, Campbell Reid & Wingate, with James Campbell Reid (1879-1923).
Wingate was elected a Licentiate of the Royal Institute of British Architects (LRIBA) in 1911. He was also a member of Glasgow Institute of Architects.
Following the outbreak of World War One, Wingate enlisted in the Army and served on the Western Front. He was killed in action in France on 13 October 1915
Architectural Work by Wingate included a motor garage in Dowanhill, Partick, Glasgow (c.1905); workmen's dwellings in Bonnybridge, Stirlingshire (c.1905); 1 King's Gate, Dowanhill, Partick, Glasgow (c.1905); 50 Dowanside Street, Glasgow (1906); offices and house for Superintendent of Riddrie Park Cemetery in Riddrie, Glasgow (1911); and, with James Campbell Reid, the McKechnie warehouse on Bell Street, Glasgow (1914).
Directory of British Architects 1834-1914. Compiled by Antonia Brodie, et al. Volume 2: L-Z. London; New York: British Architectural Library, Royal Institute of British Architects/Continuum, 2001
'Obituary'. The Builder vol. 112, 4 May 1917 p. 288
'Obituary'. Royal Institute of British Architects Journal vol. 23, 6 November 1915 pp. 8, 13