Basic Biographical Details Name: | Albert Dick Cordiner | Designation: | | Born: | 24 April 1905 | Died: | 28 August 1976 | Bio Notes: | Albert Dick Cordiner was born on 24 April 1905, the son of Aubrey Cordiner, restaurateur and his wife Elizabeth Allan; he was the brother of Thomas Smith Cordiner, who also became an architect. He was articled to Watson Salmond & Gray in Glasgow from 15 August 1922 until 6 September 1926, taking evening classes at Glasgow School of Architecture. Shortly after the end of his articles he moved to Burnet Son & Dick on 29 November 1926, where he took over the North British and Mercantile Building from Walter J Knight to discover an extremely expensive error in the design of the steelwork at the staircase window.
In July 1928 he passed the qualifying exam in Edinburgh and he was admitted ARIBA in December, his proposers being John Watson, David Salmond and William Brown Whitie. By that date he was with H M Office of Works in Westminster, having joined that office in October.
Cordiner subsequently worked in various private offices and served as staff architect to Yorkshire Electric Power Company in Leeds and as a civil servant in Belfast. (His address is given in the RIBA Kalendar of 1939-40 as 26 Midlothian Drive, which was his brother's private address). He travelled in Europe, the United States and Canada. He returned to Glasgow in June 1947 to practise on his own account. He was a member of the Town Planning Institute by 1950. He was elected FRIBA on 10 April 1956, proposed by Professor William James Smith, William McCrea and John Watson.
He retired c.1965 but continued to provide occasional help in his brother's practice thereafter. At the time of his death in Ayrshire Central Hospital, Kilwinning, on 28 August 1976 he had been living in West Kilbride. He was not married.
FRIBA, AMTPI | Private and Business AddressesThe following private or business addresses are associated with this : | | Address | Type | Date from | Date to | Notes | | 25, Glenside Grove, West Kilbride, Ayrshire, Scotland | Private | | 1976 | | | 26, Midlothian Drive, Glasgow, Scotland | Private | After 1905 | August 1928 | | | London, England | Business | After 1926 | Before 1947 | | | Belfast, Northern Ireland | Business | After 1926 | Before 1947 | | | Leeds, Yorkshire, England | Business | After 1926 | Before 1947 | | | Glasgow, Scotland | Business | 1947 | c. 1965 | | | 2, Woodlands Terrace, Glasgow, Scotland | Business | 1950s | After 1970 | | | 5, India Street, Glasgow, Scotland | Private(?) | 1950 * | | | | 10, Lynedoch Place, Glasgow, Scotland | Private | c. 1955 | | | | West Kilbride, Ayrshire, Scotland | Private | 1976 * | | |
* earliest date known from documented sources.
Employment and TrainingEmployers
RIBARIBA Proposers
Buildings and Designs
ReferencesBibliographic ReferencesThe following books contain references to this : | | Author(s) | Date | Title | Part | Publisher | Notes | | Municipal Annual | 1964 | Scottish Municipal Annual | 1964-1965 | | | | RIBA | 1939 | The RIBA Kalendar 1939-1940 | | London: Royal Institute of British Architects | | | RIBA | 1950 | The RIBA Kalendar 1950-1951 | | London: Royal Institute of British Architects | |
Archive ReferencesThe following archives hold material relating to this : | | Source | Archive Name | Source Catalogue No. | Notes | | H M Register House | Death Register | | | | Professor David M Walker personal archive | Professor David M Walker, notes and collection of archive material | | Memo of conversation between Cordiner and Alfred Lochhead in the 1960s. | | RIBA Archive, Victoria & Albert Museum | RIBA Nomination Papers | | A no4233 (combined box 2); F no5163 (combined box 60) |
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