Basic Biographical Details

Name:	George Clark Robb
Designation:	Architect
Born:	2 February 1903
Died:	12 August 1980
Bio Notes:	George Clark Robb was born on 3rd February 1903 at Gordonville, 6 St Andrew's Road, Peebles, the eldest son of Alloa-born Andrew Robb (1869-1926), wood carder, and Christina Turner Clark(1867-1937) daughter of George Clark, a Master Joiner and Building Contractor in Morningside, Edinburgh. Christina Clark had previously been in service with the 3rd Marquess of Bute in London. He had one younger brother Graeme Lambert Robb (1906-58). George’s father Andrew initially worked in Tweedside Mill where his father, also Andrew, was the Manager. In 1905 they moved to Edinburgh and Andrew took a Clerks job in Midlothian County Council Roads Office under his elder brother John. John Robb (1862 -1913) had practiced as an architect before becoming County Surveyor for Midlothian in 1897. He employed Andrew, and likely his two younger brothers James and David Haig, in the Roads Office and by the time of his early death in 1926 Andrew was Assistant County Surveyor. George’s brother Graeme also worked under his father as a Road Surveyor for Midlothian in the 1920’s, before jobs in Dunfermline, London and Maidstone, led to his appointment as Chief Divisional Engineer (Scotland) in the Ministry of Transport and Civil Aviation in Edinburgh. After a few years at various addresses in Newington, the family settled at 16 Melville Terrace, overlooking the Meadows. George attended George Heriot's School in Edinburgh from 1908 to 1919. Between 1919-1924 he studied at the School of Architecture, Edinburgh College of Art under George Washington Browne and John Begg. Drawings from his time here show a very classically based curriculum with measured drawings of historic buildings throughout the country and abroad. Whilst at the college he served his articles in the Works Department of George Heriot's Trust, from 1919 training under their Superintendent of Works John Anderson FSI (1863-1932), and becoming his assistant in 1924. George was likely responsible for the designs for a new Palladian-styled sports stand on Inverleith Row in 1925 (a recreation pavilion is in his RIBA application), and assisting in the conversion, to mining laboratories, of the Castle Brewery in the Grassmarket in 1926. He continued to work for the Trust until Anderson retired in 1929, despite having joined the Edinburgh City Architect's Office in 1927. From 1927 to 1936 he worked as an assistant in the Edinburgh City Architects Office under Ebenezer J. MacRae (1881-1951). MacRae later proposed him for RIBA membership noting that he ‘took every opportunity of learning all branches of architectural work’. He was involved in a variety of schemes including the design of council housing in Granton, although his designs here have been used elsewhere in the city. In August 1934, in Fortrose, he married Winifred Elizabeth Knight (1901-1954), an artist and secondary school art teacher and fellow graduate, in Fine Arts, of Edinburgh College of Art. She was the only child of Factory owner George Charles Knight and Catherine Grant. After her early death he returned to Edinburgh and in April 1959 he married Noreen Shaw, although this ended in divorce in March 1965. There were no children from either marriage. In 1936 he became Senior Architectural Assistant to R.A.H. Livett, Director of Housing in Leeds Corporation Housing Department. Leeds was then engaged in the construction of the Quarry Hill Estate, the largest social housing complex in the country. Between 1938-41 over nine hundred flats over 26 acres were designed in a distinctive modernist style with the innovative Mopin construction system (light steel frame and pre-cast and poured concrete), which due to lack of maintenance eventually led to demolition in the 1970’s. More traditional council housing at Halton Moor was also designed, likely by Robb. Alongside council housing Robb designed Shaftesbury House in Beeston, a massive six storey high hostel in brick with Crittal windows and Art Deco detailing. Originally designed for up to 324 men and 192 women, it was converted unsympathetically in 2007 to flats as the ultra-sustainable ‘Green House’. In 1938 he became Chief Housing Assistant to the City Engineers Department of Oxford City Corporation under Andrew Carstairs, and was responsible for the design of many of the council housing schemes in the city, including The Slade and Rose Hill. His designs in Oxford were firmly traditional, mainly two-storey terraces or semi-detached housing in brick with pitched tile roofs and multi-pane Crittal windows. Largely in a weak Arts and Crafts idiom borrowed from the Garden Suburbs movement, these forms were often combined with Classical or even Elizabethan detailing. He had become an Associate of the RIAS in 1931 and was admitted ARIBA on 16 April 1940, his proposers being Ebenezer James MacRae, Alec Nisbet (b.1890) and Harold Francis Hurcombe, the latter two being architects in Oxford. In 1941 he returned to Scotland as Depute Housing Architect to Lanarkshire County Council, under County Architect Samuel McColl (1903-92), and was involved in wartime housing provision and modernist tenement designs. At the conference of the Scottish branch of the Town Planning Institute in 1943, George spoke on aspects of rural planning arguing that the war-time prosperity of agriculture must be maintained in the post-war period. In January 1945 George spoke at a lecture held in the National Gallery of Scotland under the title ‘Problems of emergency housing’. In September 1943 he replaced the retiring Alexander Nisbet Malcolm (1877-1955) as County Architect for Stirlingshire, on a salary of £800 rising to £1000, and was involved with the provision of rural and council housing in the county. In 1943 he was elected an Associate of the Town Planning Institute and was later a Member of the Royal Town Planning Institute. In May 1945 he was appointed County Architect & Planning Officer to Aberdeenshire County Council (at a salary of £1,000, rising to £1,200 per year). In this post he designed a housing estate in Kemnay, amongst other works. In 1948 he was appointed as Regional Architect & Planning Officer for the Highland Region in the Department of Health for Scotland, based in Union Street, Inverness (a position previously held by Sir Robert Grieve). This role involved giving professional advice to State Departments on housing, hospitals, welfare buildings, schools, prisons, police buildings, fire stations, agricultural buildings, research institutes and colleges. In addition, advice was given on the technical aspects of Town and Country planning, and the position was assisted by a staff of Quantity Surveyors, Housing Inspectors and Historic Buildings Investigators. In 1955 he was elected FRIBA, being nominated by Alexander Cullen FRIBA (1892-1963) County Architect and Planning Officer for Invernesshire, J Blackburn and R.Carruthers Ballantyne (1891-1981). In his nomination papers he wrote; The works for which I have been responsible and have carried out in local and central government offices include; housing, hospitals, schools, libraries, abattoir, Old Persons homes, municipal buildings, defence works, recreation pavilion, hostels etc. In the latter 1950’s he returned to Edinburgh in a planning capacity and took a position in the Scottish Office in St Andrew’s House, working under Grieve, who became Chief Planning Officer for Scotland in 1960. He then worked for the Scottish Development Department, formed in 1962 as an executive department within the Scottish Office with responsibility for Town and Country Planning. Robb worked as a planner in the SDD until c1968 when he retired, but continued to work as the Scottish consultant for the English architectural practice of Fuller, Hall & Foulsham. Throughout his career he had designed private houses for clients. In 1935 he designed a large house in Rose Street, Dunfermline for his brother Graeme’s then manager Hugh MacDiarmid, West Fife’s Surveyor. For himself he designed a house in Aberdeen in 1945 and later designed another, Gandria, The Ness, Fortrose in 1950. After his divorce in 1965 he bought and added an architectural studio extension to the rear of his Georgian flat at 24 Calton Hill which could not be described as contextual. The timber-faced studio features a large picture window and low desk-level horizontal window with views over the City, and was entered through a secret door set within a bookcase. Robb was 6ft 4in tall, a debonair and handsome figure often seen in either a kilt or plus-fours. Later in life he was silver haired with a moustache, and the family retains a kilted portrait from the period done by the noted caricaturist Emilio Coia that was once displayed in the National Portrait Gallery. He was a keen actor, directing and appearing on stage and screen under the stage name Michael Clark as well as his own. He once won an acting competition, the prize of which was a screen test in Hollywood, but due to his architectural career he was unable to take advantage of the offer. However, he did appear in several television programmes in the 1960’s and 70’s, notably in the popular series 'Dr Finlay's Casebook', the Scottish Independence terrorism thriller ‘Scotch on the Rocks’, and in several TV plays including Waugh’s ‘Scoop’ and the BBC’s Comedy Showcase -‘The Dirtiest soldier in the world’ by George MacDonald Fraser, where he played the Duke. He was a keen member of the Scottish Arts Club in Rutland Square, which included several fellow architects amongst its number, and was active in both music and the arts. Illness marred his later years and he died from bronchopneumonia on August 12th 1980 in Greenacres House, Lamancha, West Linton aged 77. His ashes were buried in Fortrose with his first wife. His will left his estate to Mrs Elsie Robb of 13 Braid Crescent, Edinburgh widow of his brother Graeme Lambert Robb.

Private and Business Addresses

The following private or business addresses are associated with this architect:
	Address	Type	Date from	Date to	Notes
	Gordonville/6, St Andrews Road, Peebles, Peeblesshire, Scotland	Private	1903	1905
	2, Agnew Place, Trinity, Edinburgh, Scotland	Private	1905
	21, Oxford Street, Edinburgh, Scotland	Private	1905 *
	16, Melville Terrace, Edinburgh, Scotland	Private	1916(?)	1935
	Tallisrood, Balerno, Edinburgh, Scotland	Private	1935 *	1936
	Leeds Corporation Housing Dept/25, Great George Street, Leeds, Yorkshire, England	Private/business	1936	1938
	27, Talbot Road, Leeds, Yorkshire, England	Private	1936 *	1938
	City Engineers Office/Town Hall, Oxford, England	Business	1938	1941
	67, Delbush Avenue, Headington, Oxford, Oxfordshire, England	Private	1938	1943
	Lanarkshire County Council/29, Clydesdale Street, Hamilton, Lanarkshire, Scotland	Business	1941	1943
	Stirling County Architects Office, Stirling, Stirlingshire, Scotland	Business	1943	1945
	Aberdeen, Scotland	Private	1945	1948
	Aberdeenshire County Offices, Aberdeen, Scotland	Business	1945	1948
	Regional Planning Office, Department of Health/11, Church Street, Inverness, Inverness-shire, Scotland	Business	1948 *	c. 1957
	Gandria, The Ness, Fortrose, Ross and Cromarty, Scotland	Private	1950	c. 1955
	42, Union Street, Inverness, Inverness-shire, Scotland	Business	1955 *		Address of the Department of Health in Inverness.
	7, Salisbury Place, Edinburgh, Scotland	Private	c. 1955	1959
	Scottish Office & SDD, St Andrews House, Edinburgh, Scotland	Business	1957	c. 1968
	Morningside, Edinburgh, Scotland	Private	1959	1965
	24, Calton Hill, Edinburgh, Scotland	Private	1965	1980

* earliest date known from documented sources.

Employment and Training

Employers

The following individuals or organisations employed or trained this architect (click on an item to view details):
	Name	Date from	Date to	Position	Notes
	George Heriot's Trust Works Department	1919	1924	Apprentice
	George Heriot's Trust Works Department	1924	1929	Assistant
	Edinburgh City Architect's Department (Edinburgh Corporation)	1927	1936	Assistant
	Leeds City Engineer's Department	1936	1938	Assistant	Assistant to the Director of Housing
	Oxford City Engineer's Department	1938	1941	Chief Assistant	Chief Housing Assistant
	Lanarkshire County Architect's Department	1941	1943	Architect	Depute Housing Architect
	Stirling County Council Architects' Department	1943	1945	Chief Architect	County Architect
	Aberdeen County Architect's Department	1945	1948	Chief Architect	County Architect & Planning Officer
	Department of Health for Scotland (Scottish Board of Health; later Scottish Development Department)	1948	After 1955	Architect	Regional Architect & Planning Officer, Highland Region (Inverness office)

RIBA

RIBA Proposers

The following individuals proposed this architect for RIBA membership (click on an item to view details):
	Name	Date proposed	Notes
	James ('Jack') Blackburn	Early 1956	For Fellowship
	Robert Carruthers-Ballantyne (or Robert Ballantyne Carruthers; or Roy Carruthers Ballantyne)	Early 1956	For Fellowship
	Alexander Cullen (junior)	Early 1956	For Fellowship
	Harold Francis Hurcombe	16 April 1940	for Associateship
	Ebenezer James MacRae	16 April 1940	for Associateship
	Alec Nisbet	16 April 1940	for Associateship

Buildings and Designs

This architect was involved with the following buildings or structures from the date specified (click on an item to view details):
	Date started	Building name	Town, district or village	Island	City or county	Country	Notes
	1925	George Heriot's School Sports Grandstand	Inverleith		Edinburgh	Scotland	As assistant to John Anderson
	1926	Castle Brewery	Old Town		Edinburgh	Scotland	Conversion to mining department -as assistant to John Anderson
	1929	Proposed double villa and garages for Mr W March Esq	Portobello		Edinburgh	Scotland	As Architect in Edinburgh City Architect's Department
	1929	Proposed double villa and garages for Mr W March Esq	Portobello		Edinburgh	Scotland	As Architect in Edinburgh City Architect's Department
	1931	Niddrie Mains housing	Niddrie Mains		Edinburgh	Scotland	As Architect in Edinburgh City Architect's Department
	1934	Housing scheme	Leeds		Yorkshire	England	As architect in Leeds City Engineer's Department
	1935	Granton Mains housing	Granton Mains		Edinburgh	Scotland	As Architect in Edinburgh City Architect's Department
	c. 1935	Design for a house for Hugh MacDiarmid	Dunfermline		Fife	Scotland	As Architect in Edinburgh City Architect's Department
	1936	City of Leeds Housing Scheme - house types 13, 30, 32, 33, & 50	Leeds		Yorkshire	England	As senior architectural assistant to R A H Livett in Leeds Corporation Housing Department
	1936	Shaftesbury Hostel	Leeds		Yorkshire	England	As architect in Leeds City Engineer's Department
	1938	Barton Housing Estate	Oxford		Oxfordshire	England	As Chief Housing Assistant in City Engineers Office, Oxford Corporation.
	1938	Marston Road Housing Estate	Barton, Oxford		Oxfordshire	England	As Chief Housing Assistant in City Engineers Department, Oxford City Corporation
	1938	Rose Hall Housing Estate	Oxford		Oxfordshire	England	As Architect to Oxford Housing Department
	1938	Rose Hill No 2 Housing Estate					As Chief Housing Assistant to the Oxford City Engineers Office.
	1938	Slade Housing Estate	Oxford		Oxfordshire	England	As Chief Housing Assistant in City Engineers Office, City of Oxford Corporation Housing Department.
	1939	Flats for aged persons	Oxford		Oxfordshire	England	As Chief Housing Assistant in Oxford Corporation Engineers Department
	1940s	Housing Estate	Kenmay		Aberdeenshire	Scotland
	1940	House	Murtie (Murtle?)		Perthshire?	Scotland
	c. 1942	Tenement housing			Lanarkshire	Scotland	As Deputy County Housing Architect
	1943	Apartments for wartime housing			Lanarkshire	Scotland	As Deputy County Housing Architect
	After 1943	Raploch School	Raploch		Stirlingshire	Scotland	Additions including new entrance vestibule and alterations to main hall - as Stirlingshire County Architect
	After 1943	Wartime housing			Stirlingshire	Scotland
	1944	Rural workers' housing			Stirlingshire	Scotland	As Stirlingshire County Architect
	1945	Eight Agricultural Workers Houses	Stirling		Stirlingshire	Scotland	As Stirlingshire County Architect
	1945	House			Aberdeen	Scotland
	1945	Private house at Little Pen	Little Pen		Aberdeenshire	Scotland
	1948	House for Colin Logan	Broomhill, Fortrose		Ross and Cromarty	Scotland
	1950	Gandria	The Ness, Fortrose		Ross and Cromarty	Scotland
	1965	24 Calton Hill			Edinburgh	Scotland	Rear extension - for himself

References

Bibliographic References

The following books contain references to this architect:
	Author(s)	Date	Title	Part	Publisher	Notes
	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
	Saunders, James Clark		The Clarks of Crichton		Unpublished; information from Steven M Robb

Archive References

The following archives hold material relating to this architect:
	Source	Archive Name	Source Catalogue No.	Notes
	GROS	Records of Marriages
	H M Register House	Death Register
	HM New Register House	OPR (Register of births)
	Professor David M Walker personal archive	Professor David M Walker, notes and collection of archive material		Personal information from emails from Steven M Robb, Historic Scotland - George Clark Robb's great-nephew
	RIBA Archive, Victoria & Albert Museum	RIBA Nomination Papers		A no7556 (stored under F5030, combined box 51); F no5030 (combined box 51)
	Robb family archive	Architectural drawings, photographs, letters and documents in possession of the Robb family		Also notes from meeting with J Bryan Wade and Graeme Douglas Robb.
	Scotsman	Scotsman archive

Images

© All rights reserved. Courtesy of Steven Robb

© All rights reserved. Robb in centre. Courtesy of Steven Robb