Architects

Name:

(Sir) William Hardie Kininmonth

Designation :

Architect

Date of Birth:

Exact Date

Exact DOB:

08/11/1904

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Date of Death:

Exact Date

Exact DOD:

08/08/1988

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Bio Notes :

William Hardie Kininmonth was born in Forfar on 8 November 1904, the son of John Kininmonth and his wife Isabella McLean Hardie. He was educated at Dunfermline High School and George Watson's College and was articled to William N Thomson of Leith. While there he studied at Edinburgh College of Art 1924-29 under John Begg and at Heriot-Watt College, for some of this time also working as an assistant in the office of Rowand Anderson & Paul (1925-29). From there he obtained a place in the office of Sir Edwin Lutyens in London where he renewed his friendship with a former contemporary at Edinburgh College of Art, Basil Spence, who was three years younger. From 1929 to 1930 he attended classes at London University working in an atelier there.

Kininmonth was awarded the RIBA Diploma in 1931 and was placed second in the Rowand Anderson Silver medal competition. He returned to Edinburgh in 1930 but Paul could not afford to re-employ him. He did, however, offer him a room in his office. It had only a drawing board and a telephone but it enabled him to form a partnership with his friend and colleague in Lutyens' office, Basil Urwin Spence as Kininmonth & Spence in October 1931. It specialised in presentation work for other practices as well as original design work, supplemented by teaching at Edinburgh College of Art. Kininmonth and Spence's practice was immediately successful, Kininmonth's own modernist house at 46A Dick Place (1933) acting as an excellent advertisement. In 1934 Paul offered Kininmonth a partnership but he felt he had to decline unless Spence was taken into partnership as well. Paul accepted this proposal and the Kininmonth & Spence partnership merged into Paul's as Rowand Anderson & Paul & Partners. Kininmonth and Spence continued teaching although by that date business had significantly recovered. This arrangement continued until June 1938 when Paul died. From 1939 to 1941 Kininmonth held the post of senior lecturer in design at Edinburgh College of Art. In 1942 he was called up and served with the Royal Engineers in Algeria, Tunisia, Sicily and Italy.

On their return from war service Kininmonth and Spence found that there was little work on offer. Spence left the practice in 1946 to found Basil Spence & Partners. Kininmonth continued the Rowand Anderson partnership as Rowand Anderson Kininmonth & Paul. The post-war years of this partnership, when William Gray Leslie and Richard Gale Ewing did most of the design work, lie outwith the present scope of the Dictionary of Scottish Architects.

He joined the Building Standards Advisory Committee in 1959, advising the Secretary of State for Scotland on the proposed Building (Scotland) Act, 1959.

Kininmonth was President of the RSA from 1969 to 1972 and was knighted in the latter year. He died in Edinburgh in August 1988.

'Biography authored by the Dictionary of Scottish Architects Compilation Team.'

Bio Notes continued...

Additional Notes

The following private or business addresses are associated with this person:

Private Addresses2 classic

Address	Class	Date From Char	Date From Type	Date To Char	Date To Type	Notes
Cambourne Hotel/62 Leanster Square London England	Private
46A Dick Place Edinburgh Scotland	Private

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Business Addresses2 classic

Address	Class	Date From	Date From Type	Date To	Date To Type	Notes
16 Rutland Square Edinburgh Scotland	Business	Before 1934		After 1951

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The following individuals or organisations employed or trained this person (click on an item to view details):

Employers2 classic

Name	Name Link	Date From	Date To	Position
Kininmonth & Spence	203353	1931/10 or 1932	In year 1934	Partner
Edwin Landseer Lutyens	200727	In year 1929	In year 1931	Assistant
Rowand Anderson & Paul	200081	In year 1931	In year 1934	Draughtsman
Rowand Anderson, Paul & Partners	203371	In year 1934	In year 1946	Partner
Rowand Anderson Kininmonth & Paul	200101	In year 1946	In year 1976	Partner
W N Thomson & Co	203908	c. 1924	c. 1929	Apprentice

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The following individuals proposed this person for RIBA membership (click on an item to view details):

RIBA PROPOSERS2 classic

Proposer	Proposer Link	Date Proposed	Notes
John Begg	200375	Early 1931s	for Associateship
Charles Denny Carus-Wilson	202706	Early 1931s	for Associateship
(Sir) Frank Charles Mears	202402	Early 1931s	for Associateship
Ebenezer James MacRae	200699	1948/04/06	for Fellowship
201650	201650	1948/04/06	for Fellowship
Alfred Hugh Mottram	300003	1948/04/06	for Fellowship

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This person proposed the following individuals for RIBA membership (click on an item to view details):

RIBA PROPOSALS2 classic

Person	Date Proposed	Notes
Ian Charles Gordon	1951/12/01	For Associateship
Hugh Sinclair Macdonald	Late 1955s	for Fellowship
Frank Wood Johnston	1956/01/10	For Licentiateship
Thomas Stanley Aitchison Kennedy	1956/10/09	For Licentiateship
Alan Reiach	Early 1959s	for Fellowship
Charles William Gray	1960/06/21	for Fellowship
Ian Charles Gordon	1968/06/06	For Fellowship

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This person was involved with the following buildings or structures from the date specified (click on an item to view details):

Buildings and Designs2 classic

Building Name	Date Started	Town, District or Village	City or County	Country	Notes
Lismohr	In year 1932		Edinburgh	Scotland
Housing estate for Berwickshire County Council	In year 1932	Burnmouth	Berwickshire	Scotland
Planning scheme for redevelopment of seafront, including fishermen's cottages	In year 1932	Dunbar	East Lothian	Scotland
Housing estate	In year 1932	Duns	Berwickshire	Scotland
6 Castlelaw Road	In year 1932	Colinton	Edinburgh	Scotland
Prestwick Municipal Buildings, pavilion and offices	In year 1933	Prestwick	Ayrshire	Scotland	Competition design - placed second
Glenburn House	In year 1933	Glenlockhart	Edinburgh	Scotland	Attributed to Kininmonth (DWW)
Council houses	In year 1933	Dunbar	East Lothian	Scotland	Design of original scheme
46A Dick Place	In year 1933		Edinburgh	Scotland
4 Easter Belmont Road	In year 1933		Edinburgh	Scotland
Glenwood	Before 1933	Glenlockhart	Edinburgh	Scotland	Original building
Southern Motors Garage	1933 or 1937		Edinburgh	Scotland
Murrayfield Golf Clubhouse	In year 1934	Murrayfield	Edinburgh	Scotland	Conversion of clubhouse into dwelling house
15 Braid Hills Avenue	In year 1934		Edinburgh	Scotland
House for St Katherine's	In year 1934	Liberton	Edinburgh	Scotland

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The following books contain references to this person:

Bib ref classic

Author	Title	Date	Publisher	Notes
Glendinning, Miles	Rebuilding Scotland: The Postwar Vision, 1945-75	1997	Tuckwell Press Ltd	p1 Night view of the Glasgow Empire Exhibtion - from brochure. ICI Pavilionp4 Pollock Halls; Philiphaugh; Adam House (Examination Hall); Drylaw Church p12 Site plan and perspective of Timber Housing, Lanarkshirepp35-6, 150, 164 Scottish Provident Officespp74-5, 151 Martello Courtp96-7 Kilsyth Academyp163 Pollock Halls
Glendinning, Miles and Muthesius, Stefan	Tower Block: Modern Public Housing in England, Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland	1994	Yale University Press: New Haven and London	Martello Court: p43, p215, p216, p321, p326p380 Gazetteer 2p238 Photograph
Wodehouse, Lawrence	Kininmonth & Spence and the International Style in Edinburgh	1979	Unpublished dissertation, NMRS Library
RIBA	The RIBA Kalendar 1939-1940	1939	London: Royal Institute of British Architects
Willis, Peter	New architecture in Scotland	1977		p11 Scottish Provident Officesp84-7 The New Club

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The following periodicals contain references to this person:

Period ref classic

Periodical Name	Date Circ	Edition	Notes
Scotsman	1988/08	*	Obituary by Charles McKean
Scotsman	1988/08/12	*	Date may be wrong by a couple of days either way
Architects Journal	1988/08/24	*	Obituary
Daily Telegraph	1988/08/20	*	Obituary
Builder	1960/06/10		'Scottish Advisory Committee' p1106
Builder	1964/01/10		p96
Builder	1961/08/18		'Civic Trust Design Awards, 1960 - Results of Competitions in the County Boroughs, The Awards, Scotland' pp304-305 - served as assessor for Glasgow projects
Builder	1948/9/17		p329
Builder	1951/7/13		p69
Scotsman	1969/10/24		"New offices for Scottish Provident Institution" article by Leslie Fraser
Builder	1959/08/28		'Building Standards: Scottish Committee Appointed' p113
The Grange Newsletter	2011	Spring
Builder	1951/4/13		p534

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The following archives hold material relating to this person:

Arc ref classic

Archive Name	Source	Source Cat No	Building Id	Item Name	Notes
RIBA Nomination Papers	RIBA Archive, Victoria & Albert Museum	100005			A no 4466 (stored under F no 4351, combined box 9); F no4351 (combined box 9)

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Basic Biographic Details

Addresses

Private Addresses

Private Addresses2 classic

Business Addresses

Business Addresses2 classic

Employment and Training

Employers2 classic

RIBA Proposers

RIBA PROPOSERS2 classic

RIBA Proposals

RIBA PROPOSALS2 classic

Buildings and Designs

Buildings and Designs2 classic

References

Bibliographic References

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