Basic Biographical Details

Name:	Thomas Smith (junior)
Designation:
Born:	15 May 1934
Died:	December 2017
Bio Notes:	Thomas Smith junior was born in 1934, the son of Thomas Nimmo Smith and grandson of Thomas Smith (senior) architects in Coatbridge. His childhood was spent first in Coatbridge and then in Blackpool where his father was stationed during war service, but thereafter he was sent to Morison’s Academy at Crieff as a boarder. On leaving school he spent a short period in his father’s office in Coatbridge before enrolling at Edinburgh College of Art to study architecture under Robert Matthew and Ralph Cowan. His exemption from National Service ended before he could take the final examinations and the next two years were spent with the Royal Air Force. At the end of that period he joined the Edinburgh practice of Whitehorn & Brown for wider experience, that firm being busy with NCB work. When that partnership dissolved he remained briefly with Brown. In the mid 1960s Smith returned to his father’s practice which was then expanding rapidly; Robert Hugh Gibb had been recruited to open a Greenock office and that in turn had led to an office in Cowal managed by James Guy Lindsay Pate. Smith junior made his home in Airdrie, working in the Coatbridge office with Charles Wilson Vallance Thom, and from time to time in the Greenock office when Gibb required assistance. During that period he completed the architecture course on a part-time basis at Glasgow School of Architecture, taking the final examinations and being admitted ARIBA in 1967. In that same year the practice opened a fourth office in Glasgow mainly to deal with industrial and particularly distillery work. Initially Charles Thom was in charge of it, but the driving force behind it quickly became William McDonald, recruited in 1967 as an associate and a partner in 1975. The practice title was by then Thomas Smith, Gibb & Pate: neither Thom nor McDonald was ever acknowledged in the title. In the 1970s Smith spent a considerable proportion of his time in the Greenock office where business was beginning to decline, partly because Gibb’s health was failing, resulting in him becoming less active. But in 1979 he bought and opened an office at 65 York Place, Edinburgh as a more convenient base for the practice’s Territorial Army and housing association work, mainly Kirkcare and Bield; and in 1983 the final retirement of his father and more seriously Gibb’s health and lack of business in the Greenock office brought about the dissolution of the partnership. Thom retained the Coatbridge office, Pate that in Dunoon, and McDonald that in Glasgow, each practising in their own name only. Smith retained the Edinburgh practice which continues as Smith Scott Mullan Associates with Alistair Scott and Eugen Mullan as partners.

Private and Business Addresses

The following private or business addresses are associated with this :
	Address	Type	Date from	Date to	Notes
	7, Hartington Gardens, Edinburgh, Scotland	Private	1930s
	40, Drumpellier Avenue, Coatbridge, Lanarkshire, Scotland	Private	Before 1960 *	After 1965
	Greystones, Woodburn Avenue, Airdrie, Lanarkshrie, Scotland	Private	1970 *
	65, York Place, Edinburgh, Scotland	Business(?)	1979

* earliest date known from documented sources.

Employment and Training

Employers

The following individuals or organisations employed or trained this (click on an item to view details):
	Name	Date from	Date to	Position	Notes
	Thomas Smith, Gibb & Pate	1960s *		Partner

* earliest date known from documented sources.

Buildings and Designs

This 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
		Scottish National Zoological Park Aquarium	Corstorphine		Edinburgh	Scotland	Entrance building, reconstructed from A N paterson's Aquarium Building where the humidity had affected the steelwork and reinforcement making it unsafe.
	1968	Gibson Lindsay Old People's Home	Coatbridge		Lanarkshire	Scotland
	1969	Woodside Street redevelopment	Coatbridge		Lanarkshire	Scotland
	1970s	Housing developments, Broadfield	Port Glasgow		Renfrewshire	Scotland
	1970s	YMCA and YWCA premises	Coatbridge		Lanarkshire	Scotland
	1971	Blairgrove redevelopment	Coatbridge		Lanarkshire	Scotland
	1974	Sheltered housing for Help the Aged	Kirkintilloch		Dunbartonshire	Scotland
	1975	Workers' Village, Portavadie	Pollphail, Portavadie		Argyll	Scotland
	Before 1975	Factory for Victory Kidder Ltd	Birkenhead		Cheshire	England
	Before 1975	Sheltered housing	Cambuslang		Glasgow	Scotland
	Before 1975	Swimming pool	Johnstone		Renfrewshire	Scotland
	1976	Sandbank Primary School	Sandbank		Argyll	Scotland
	1978	12-16 High Street	Falkirk		Stirlingshire	Scotland
	1978	Ramsay Hall	Port Ellen	Islay	Argyll	Scotland	Refurbishment and extension
	1980s	TAVR (Territorial Army) Centre	Glenrothes		Fife	Scotland
	Before 1981	Industrial complex for Hiram Walker			Dunbartonshire	Scotland
	Before 1981	TAVR (Territorial Army) Centre	Perth		Perthshire	Scotland
	Before 1981	Town Centre Development	Johnstone		Renfrewshire	Scotland

References

Bibliographic References

The following books contain references to this :
	Author(s)	Date	Title	Part	Publisher	Notes
	RIBA	1930	The RIBA Kalendar 1930-1931		London: Royal Institute of British Architects
	RIBA	1939	The RIBA Kalendar 1939-1940		London: Royal Institute of British Architects
	RIBA	1961	Kalendar 1960-61
	RIBA	1965	The RIBA Kalendar
	RIBA	1970	RIBA Directory 1970

Archive References

The following archives hold material relating to this :
	Source	Archive Name	Source Catalogue No.	Notes
	Courtesy of Thomas Smith III	Information sent to David Walker