Basic Biographical Details Name: | Joseph Anderson Allan | Designation: | | Born: | 9 May 1882 | Died: | 15 April 1956 | Bio Notes: | Joseph Anderson Allan was born on 9 May 1882 and served his apprenticeship with Arthur Hay Livingstone Mackinnon of Aberdeen from 1900 to 1905, studying at the Aberdeen School of Architecture and gaining the first scholarship awarded by the Aberdeen Society of Architects. He spent 1905 and 1906 working for various offices in England and Scotland, including Fryers & Penman of Largs, Ayrshire, and in the latter year became chief assistant to Harry Smith Fairhurst of Manchester where he worked on large commercial buildings. He competed for the RIBA Tite Prize in 1908 and although he did not win the award, the assessor, Paul Waterhouse, stated that 'he regarded the design as value for 4th place, in a year of exceptionally keen competition'. In 1912 he left Fairhurst and returned to Aberdeen to join his brother John Alexander Ogg Allan as chief assistant and junior partner, working principally on educational buildings.
He served with H M Forces in France and Italy from 1916 to 1918, returning to continue practising with his brother at the end of the war. He remained associated with his brother thereafter, but from 1925 also occasionally practised independently. He was an Associate of the Aberdeen Society of Architects, acting as Associates' representative on the Council of that society, and was admitted LRIBA on 3 December 1934, his proposers being Mackinnon, John Gibb Marr and his brother.
During the Second World War Joseph Anderson Allan served as senior surveyor to the Air Ministry on aerodromes at Peterhead, Banff and Kinloss. He was elected FRIBA on 16 October 1945, proposed by his brother, Marr and James Brown Nicol. In that year he and his brother took David John Alexander Ross (born 1899), who had trained with Thomas J Munro in Inverness and had joined the Allans as chief assistant c.1925, into partnership, the firm becoming Allan, Ross & Allan. Ross had been responsible for a number of the modernist schools designed by the firm in the 1930s.
Joseph Anderson Allan died on 15 April 1956, his brother having died the previous year. | Private and Business AddressesThe following private or business addresses are associated with this : | | Address | Type | Date from | Date to | Notes | | 18, Edgehill Road, Aberdeen, Scotland | Private | 1912 | After 1934 | | | 25, Union Terrace, Aberdeen, Scotland | Business | Before 1930 | After 1934 | | | 73A-79A, Union Street, Aberdeen, Scotland | Business | c. 1939 | | | | 10, Bon-Accord Square, Aberdeen, Scotland | Business | 1952 * | | |
* earliest date known from documented sources.
Employment and TrainingEmployers
RIBARIBA ProposersRIBA ProposalsThis proposed the following individuals for RIBA membership (click on an item to view details): | | Name | Date proposed | Notes | | David John Alexander Ross | 1 April 1952 | for Fellowship |
Buildings and Designs
ReferencesBibliographic ReferencesThe following books contain references to this : | | Author(s) | Date | Title | Part | Publisher | Notes | | RIBA | 1939 | The RIBA Kalendar 1939-1940 | | London: Royal Institute of British Architects | |
Periodical ReferencesThe following periodicals contain references to this : | | Periodical Name | Date | Edition | Publisher | Notes | | Builder | 1956 | v190 | | p392 | | RIBA Journal | November 1956 | | London: Royal Institute of British Architects | Obituary p47 |
Archive ReferencesThe following archives hold material relating to this : | | Source | Archive Name | Source Catalogue No. | Notes | | RIBA Archive, Victoria & Albert Museum | RIBA Nomination Papers | | L no4412 (combined box 13); F no4106 (box 32) |
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