Architects

Name:

Robert McDowall Symonds

Designation :

Architect

Date of Birth:

Year Only

Exact DOB:

18/06/1926

Year of Birth :

1892

Circa Year of Birth :

Date of Birth Before (Year):

Date of Birth After (Year):

DOB (1st 'Or' Year):

DOB (2nd 'Or' Year):

Date of Death:

Year Only

Exact DOD:

18/06/1926

Year of Death:

1963

Circa Year of Death:

Date of Death Before (Year):

Date of Death After (Year):

DOD (1st 'Or' Year):

DOD (2nd 'Or' Year):

Town of Birth :

Bio Notes :

Robert McDowall Symonds was born in Edinburgh in 1892 and studied at Edinburgh College of Art. He served his articles with David McArthy from 1906 to 1910 (or 1911, sources vary). During the period 1911-13 he was an assistant in the practice of Burnett Napier Henderson Orphoot, working mainly on theatres and domestic design, moving to a similar position in the office of Alan Keith Robertson where he worked on Moray House Training College. This was followed by a spell in the office of Leadbetter Fairley & Reid working on Scottish domestic commissions, and on general design. His final move in Edinburgh was back to the office of David McArthy where he assisted on the design for the Dick Vet.

He left Scotland for Canada on 22 February 1913 to assist Thomas Reid Peacock on the Quebec Harbour commission. He served with the Canadian Army in France during World War 1, but after the cease of hostilities he returned to Canada and settled in Toronto where he worked as a draftsman for a succession of firms including Horwood & White (1919-20) where he worked on large department stores for the Hudson Bay Company, the City Architect’s Office (1920-23), here he was in charge of the design and preparation of drawings for all buildings erected by the City including the Coliseum Exhibition Building and other municipal structures including hospitals. He then moved as assistant and designer for Burden & Gouinlock (1923-25), where he worked on schools, domestic buildings and churches and finally to Chapman & Oxley (1926-27) working on a theatre and some large office buildings.

From 1926-28 he worked in Moose Jaw, Saskatoon and Edmonton, Alberta where he worked as assistant and designer for Richard Geoffrey Bunyard on hotels hospitals and schools. He was then invited by R P Blakey to form a partnership. The practice was a general one and undertook a range of commissions including industrial buildings, apartment blocks and schools. In 1928 he was elected a member of the Alberta Association of Architects and he served as president for three years.

However this partnership was dissolved in 1934. He returned to Great Britain and he continued his career in London working as chief assistant to W B Binnie on the Arsenal Football Stadium, hospitals, the Phoenicia Hotel, Malta and on factory designs.

During the Second World War he was attached to the Canadian Engineers at the Canadian Military Headquarters in London and worked on machine shops, hospitals and camps. After the cease of hostilities he returned to Binnie as partner and was involved with the design of a brewery in Malta, hotel work, factories and a football stadium. In 1954 he opened his own private practice which was a general one with factory and domestic work among other commissions.

He was elected ARIAS in 1955 suggesting he retained an interest in Scottish architecture. He was elected LRIBA the following year, proposed by Cecil S Burgess, C W Fowler and Edward Maufe.

Symonds died in 1963.

'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
Edinburgh Scotland	Private
417 Empire Block Edmonton Alberta Canada	Private/business

row(s) 1 - 2 of 2

Business Addresses2 classic

Address	Class	Date From	Date From Type	Date To	Date To Type	Notes
417 Empire Block Edmonton Alberta Canada	Private/business	1930 or 1931
27 Wellesley Road Chiswick London England	Business	1939		After 1955

row(s) 1 - 2 of 2

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	Notes
David McArthy	201968	In year 1906	In year 1910	Apprentice
Burnett Napier Henderson Orphoot	202918	In year 1911	In year 1913	Assistant	Within this period of time.
Alan Keith Robertson	202452	In year 1911	In year 1913	Assistant	Within this period of time.
Leadbetter, Fairley & Reid	201273	In year 1911	In year 1913	Assistant	Within this period of time.
Thomas Reid Peacock	203505	In year 1913	In year 1916	Assistant
Toronto City Architect's Department	204665	In year 1919	In year 1923	Architect
Burden & Gouinlock	408796	In year 1923	In year 1926	Assistant
Chapman & Oxley	407818	In year 1923	In year 1926	Assistant	Within this period.
Horwood & White	408797	In year 1923	In year 1926	Assistant	Within this period
Richard Geoffrey Bunyard	408798	In year 1926	In year 1928	Assistant
Richard Palin Blakey	408799	In year 1928	In year 1935	Partner
William Bryce Binnie (Major)	204889	In year 1935	In year 1939	Chief Assistant
William Bryce Binnie (Major)	204889	In year 1946	In year 1953	Partner
David McArthy	201968		In year 1913	Assistant

row(s) 1 - 14 of 14

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
Cecil Scott Burgess	203446	1956/04/10	For Licentiateship
Edward Brantwood Maufe	100468	1956/04/10	For Licentiateship
C W Fowler	408800	1956/04/10	For Licentiateship

row(s) 1 - 3 of 3

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
University of Edinburgh, Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons	c. 1913		Edinburgh	Scotland	As assistant to David McArthy
Arsenal football stadium	In year 1935	Highbury	London	England	As chief assistant to Binnie - west stand?
Hotel Phoenicia	c. 1935		Valetta	Malta	As chief assistant and later partner

row(s) 1 - 3 of 3

The following books contain references to this person:

Bib ref classic

Author	Title	Date	Publisher	Notes
RIBA	The RIBA Kalendar 1930-1931	1930	London: Royal Institute of British Architects
RIBA	The RIBA Kalendar 1939-1940	1939	London: Royal Institute of British Architects
http://dictionaryofarchitectsincanada.org/	http://dictionaryofarchitectsincanada.org/			Per Robert Hill

row(s) 1 - 3 of 3

The following archives hold material relating to this person:

Arc ref classic

Archive Name	Source	Source Cat No	Building Id	Item Name	Notes
Records of membership	RIAS, Rutland Square	201006
RIBA Nomination Papers	RIBA Archive, Victoria & Albert Museum	100005			L no 6699 (Box 155)

row(s) 1 - 2 of 2

Basic Biographic Details

Addresses

Private Addresses

Private Addresses2 classic

Business Addresses

Business Addresses2 classic

Employment and Training

Employers2 classic

RIBA Proposers

RIBA PROPOSERS2 classic

Buildings and Designs

Buildings and Designs2 classic

References

Bibliographic References

Bib ref classic

Archive References

Arc ref classic