Larger versions of these images are located at the foot of the page. Basic Biographical Details Name: | Thomas ('Tom') Riddell Spaven | Designation: | Architect | Born: | 26 September 1920 | Died: | 30 October 2011 | Bio Notes: | Thomas ('Tom') Riddell Spaven was born in Edinburgh on 26 November 1920, the son of Edward Francis Spaven, bank teller, and his wife Martha Nellie Gray Stavert. He enrolled on the full-time architecture course at Edinburgh College of Art in October 1938, although his studies were interrupted by war service from August 1939 to May 1946. He passed his intermediate exam in December 1946 and his final exam in June 1948, both at the School of Architecture, Edinburgh College of Art. In the summer of 1947 he spent a month in Norway and Sweden on a travelling scholarship. He was admitted ARIBA in December 1948, his proposers being William Innes Thomson, John Ross McKay and Leslie Grahame Thomson.
From July 1948 to December 1949, Spaven was employed as architectural assistant for Professor J S Allen at the University of Newcastle, while between January 1950 and March 1952 he was employed as senior architectural assistant for Reiach & Cowan, working on projects such as East Kilbride housing and the East of Scotland Agricultural College, for which he was chief draughtsman. He then worked in the National Coal Board architects' department (Scottish Division) from April 1952 until June 1953. From December 1952, on Alan Reiach's suggestion, Spaven began working in his spare time as the first employee of Robert Matthew's newly established private practice, assisting with the Turnhouse Airport project, and only leaving the National Coal Board to work full time for Matthew as the job progressed.
In 1961, Spaven was taken into partnership with Robert Matthew, Johnson-Marshall & Partners. As the practice expanded, Spaven felt himself increasingly sidelined into an administrator-helper role. However, from 1964, when Kenneth Graham and John Richards were also made partners, Spaven 'settled contentedly' into a general role of office manager, acting as the partner in charge of the Edinburgh office while Robert Matthew was absent and with responsibility for job contract management, client agreements, partnership agreements and all the legal matters in the Edinburgh office. While large projects tended to be delegated to Graham and Richards, Spaven nonetheless continued to oversee many of the practice's programs, including hospitals such as Ninewells Teaching Hospital and Medical School and a series of thermal power stations for the South of Scotland Electricity Board. He was admitted FRIBA in 1968, his proposers being Robert Matthew, John Richards and Kenneth Graham. In the 1970s, Spaven was responsible for organising RMJM projects in Libya, having been stationed in the Western Desert during the war.
Following the death of Robert Matthew in 1975, Spaven became increasingly disillusioned with the practice: 'when Robert died, quite simply, something went out of my life. I must have enjoyed it all - otherwise I wouldn't have felt so sorry at his demise. After that - what was there ahead of me? My personal satisfaction had more or less disappeared, with all the endless meetings.' Spaven left RMJM in the late 1970s. In the 1979 RIBA directories Spaven appears to have been practising on his own.
Spaven died on 30 October 2011. His lost his wife in a car accident in 2010. He is survived by his son and his daughter. | Private and Business AddressesThe following private or business addresses are associated with this architect: | | Address | Type | Date from | Date to | Notes |  | 3, Devonshire Terrace, Newcastle, England | Business | 1948 | 1949 | |  | 6, West Castle Road, Edinburgh, Scotland | Private | c. 1948 | | |  | 26, Fountainhall Road, Edinburgh, Scotland | Private | 1950 * | After 1960 | |  | 1, Eglinton Crescent, Edinburgh, Scotland | Business | 1952 | 1953 | |  | 10, Heriot Row, Edinburgh, Scotland | Private | 1968 | After 1970 | |  | House 1/Marley Knowe, North Berwick, East Lothian, Scotland | Private | 1979 * | | |  | 9A, St Colme Street, Edinburgh, Scotland | Private/business(?) | 1981 | | |  | 18, Damdale, Peebles, Peeblesshire, Scotland | Private | 1987 | | |
* earliest date known from documented sources.
Employment and TrainingEmployers
RIBARIBA Proposers
Buildings and DesignsThis 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 |  | | Guitar Factory | Muir of Ord | | Ross & Cromarty | Scotland | |  | (?) | Ninewells Hospital and Medical School | | | Dundee | Scotland | Partner-in-charge |  | 1950(?) | Shops and houses, Whitemoss | East Kilbride | | Lanarkshire | Scotland | In conjunction with Alan Reiach |  | 1950(?) | University of Edinburgh, King's Buildings, Department of Agriculture | | | Edinburgh | Scotland | As chief draughtsman for Reiach. |  | 1952 | Local Centre, Whitemoss | East Kilbride | | Lanarkshire | Scotland | Noted as assistant in charge |  | 1952 | Turnhouse Airport | | | Edinburgh | Scotland | |  | 1954 | Cashlie Hydro-Electric Power Station | Glen Lochay | | Perthshire | Scotland | Generating Station |  | 1954 | Kincardine Power Station | Kincardine-on-Forth | | Fife | Scotland | |  | 1954 | Lubreoch Power Station | Innerwick, Glen Lyon | | Perthshire | Scotland | Generating station |  | 1955 | Edinburgh Royal Infirmary | | | Edinburgh | Scotland | Redevelopment- phase I |  | 1955 | New Zealand House | | | London | England | |  | 1957 | Barshare Housing and comprehensive town plan | Cumnock and Holmhead Burgh | | Ayrshire | Scotland | |  | 1957 | Firrhill Secondary School | Firrhill | | Edinburgh | Scotland | |  | 1957(?) | Lochay (Killin) Power Station | Glen Lochay | | Perthshire | Scotland | |  | 1957 | University of Aberdeen, Crombie Hall of Residence | | | Aberdeen | Scotland | |  | 1958 | Hutchesontown / Gorbals Area B multi-storey flats and housing | | | Glasgow | Scotland | Acted as design consultant for development of scheme. |  | 1960s | Turnhouse Airport | | | Edinburgh | Scotland | Extensions |  | 1960 | College of Nautical Studies | | | Glasgow | Scotland | Probably partner in charge (according to Vernon Lee) |  | c. 1960 | University of Aberdeen, Johnston Hall of Residence | | | Aberdeen | Scotland | |  | 1962(?) | Pilgrim Street development | | | Newcastle-upon-Tyne | England | |  | 1962 | Victoria Street housing development | Dunbar | | East Lothian | Scotland | |  | 1964 | Dunfermline College of Physical Education, Edinburgh | Cramond estate | | Edinburgh, Midlothian | Scotland | Partner in charge. |  | 1964 | University of Strathclyde, Colville Building (Departments of Civil Engineering and Metallurgy) | | | Glasgow | Scotland | Was probably the partner in charge (Vernon Lee) |  | 1965 | Aberdeen University Joint Agricultural Building | | | Aberdeen | Scotland | |  | 1966 | University of Stirling, including library and landscaping | Stirling | | Stirlingshire | Scotland | |  | 1967 | Hunterston B Nuclear Power Station | | | Ayrshire | Scotland | |  | 1970s(?) | Newbattle Abbey | Newbattle | | Midlothian | Scotland | Alterations for College |  | 1971 | British Home Stores | | | Aberdeen | Scotland | |  | 1971 | Industrialised Building Project (IBP) housing project | Gurgi | | Tripoli (near) | Libya | |  | 1971 | Market, 8-10 Market Street | | | Aberdeen | Scotland | |  | 1972 | Dunfermline College of Physical Education, Edinburgh | Cramond estate | | Edinburgh, Midlothian | Scotland | Extension - perhaps also in charge? |  | 1972 | Opera House site | | | Edinburgh | Scotland | Scheme for pyramidal opera house |  | 1975 | Edinburgh Airport | | | Edinburgh | Scotland | Partner in charge with John Richards |  | 1977 | Aberdeen Airport | | | Aberdeen | Scotland | Probably involved |  | 1979 | Electronics Factory for Burroughs Corporation | Livingston | | West Lothian | Scotland | |  | 1979 | International Business Machines (IBM) Factory | Greenock | | Renfrewshire | Scotland | |  | Before 1979 | Housing for the Link Housing Association | | | Edinburgh | Scotland | |  | Before 1979 | Ski Lodge for Cairngorm Chairlift Company | Aviemore | | Inverness-shire | Scotland | |  | 1984 | Office for architectural practice, Dean Village | Dean Village | | Edinburgh | Scotland | |
ReferencesBibliographic ReferencesThe following books contain references to this architect: | | Author(s) | Date | Title | Part | Publisher | Notes |  | Glendinning, Miles | 1997 | Rebuilding Scotland: The Postwar Vision, 1945-75 | | Tuckwell Press Ltd | p13 Whitemoss shops and houses East Kilbride p18-19, p165 Turnhouse Airport; p18-19, p157, p170 Kincardine Power Station p26 Hutchesontown B p28 Ninewells Hospital |  | Glendinning, Miles | 2008 | Modern architect: the life and times of Robert Matthew | | RIBA Publishing | p136,155-6,172,233-5,241,243-4,248,287,296,298,300,441-3,483,486,527 |  | Glendinning, Miles and Muthesius, Stefan | 1994 | Tower Block: Modern Public Housing in England, Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland | | Yale University Press: New Haven and London | p169, p228, p368 Hutchesontown Area B |  | RIBA | 1948 | The RIBA Kalendar 1948-1949 | | London: Royal Institute of British Architects | |  | RIBA | 1950 | The RIBA Kalendar 1950-1951 | | London: Royal Institute of British Architects | |  | RIBA | 1954 | RIBA Kalendar 1953-54 | | | |  | RIBA | 1961 | Kalendar 1960-61 | | | |  | RIBA | 1970 | RIBA Directory 1970 | | | |  | RIBA | 1979 | Directory of members | | | |  | RIBA | 1981 | Directory of Practices 1981 | | | |  | RIBA | 1987 | RIBA Directory of Members 1987 | | | |  | Willis, Peter | 1977 | New architecture in Scotland | | | p7-8, p15-16 Turnhouse Airport p52-55 University of Stirling p92-5 Ninewells Hospital |
Periodical ReferencesThe following periodicals contain references to this architect: | | Periodical Name | Date | Edition | Publisher | Notes |  | RIAS Quarterly | 2012 | Spring | Royal Incorporation of Architects in Scotland (RIAS) | |
Archive ReferencesThe following archives hold material relating to this architect: | | Source | Archive Name | Source Catalogue No. | Notes |  | National Archives (via Scotlands People) | Statutory births | | |  | RIBA Archive, Victoria & Albert Museum | RIBA Nomination Papers | | A no10260, F no6280 (Combined Box 130) |
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