Architects

Name:

William Alexander Bruce Robertson

Designation :

Architect

Date of Birth:

Exact Date

Exact DOB:

24/06/1911

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DOB (1st 'Or' Year):

DOB (2nd 'Or' Year):

Date of Death:

Exact Date

Exact DOD:

13/07/1984

Year of Death:

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Bio Notes :

William Alexander Bruce Robertson was born on 24 June 1911, the son of William Robertson, master painter, and his wife Mary Sinclair Miller. He attended morning classes at Edinburgh College of Art for five years from October 1932, presumably whilst articled in an architect's office. Thereafter he continued to study full-time for two years, receiving his diploma in June 1937. He was admitted ARIBA on 10 January 1938, his proposers being Arthur Forman Balfour Paul, Frank Charles Mears, and James Macgregor, who had supervised his studies at the College of Art from 1933 onwards. He was an Institute Medallist (Drawings) in 1938, and also won the Grissell Gold Medal that year and the Arthur Cateman Prize. His nomination papers state that he had travelled in Spain, Italy, Yugoslavia and Greece from 3 to 28 September 1935, and in Denmark, Norway and Sweden from 3 to 27 September 1936. He was also an Associate of the Edinburgh Architectural Association.

Robertson, seemingly known at that time as Bruce Robertson, worked as assistant to Rowand Anderson, Paul & Partners. When one of the partners, Basil Spence, left in 1945 to set up his own practice, Robertson left to join him in partnership, the firm Basil Spence & Partners being founded in November 1936. He left early in 1950 to practise independently as W A Bruce Robertson from an office in St Colm Street, Edinburgh. His work included jobs for Edinburgh Corporation and a house he built for himself at Easter Howgate.

Robertson resigned his RIBA membership in January 1978, at which time he gave his address as 8 St Colme Street, Edinburgh. He died on 13 July 1984 at his home in Wester Howgate. He was survived by his wife Mary Isobel Crocker.

'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
Dunduran East Barnton Avenue Davidson's Mains Edinburgh Scotland	Private
3 Hillpark Drive Davidson\'s Mains Edinburgh Scotland	Private/business
30 Wester Howgate Midlothian Scotland	Private
Easter Howgate Midlothian Scotland	Private

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Business Addresses2 classic

Address	Class	Date From	Date From Type	Date To	Date To Type	Notes
3 Hillpark Drive Davidson\'s Mains Edinburgh Scotland	Private/business	1939		After 1950
8 St Colme Street Edinburgh Scotland	Business	Before 1964		After 1978

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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	Notes
Basil Spence & Partners	203372	1946/11	In year 1950	Partner	In Edinburgh office.
Rowand Anderson, Paul & Partners	203371	After 1934	In year 1946	Assistant

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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
Arthur Forman Balfour Paul	200058	1938/01/10	for Associateship
James Macgregor	202192	1938/01/10	for Associateship
(Sir) Frank Charles Mears	202402	1938/01/10	for Associateship

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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
Bell's Brae House	In year 1946	Dean Village	Edinburgh	Scotland	Restoration and alterations
Bannerfield Estate	In year 1946	Selkirk	Selkirkshire	Scotland
Glasgow University, Natural Philosophy Buildings	In year 1947		Glasgow	Scotland	Extension to N, for research and housing the synchrotron; completed by Spence practice after Robertson left in 1950.
Housing, 1-6 Harbour Court, Castle Gate	In year 1948	Dunbar	East Lothian	Scotland	Partner in charge
Housing, 19A, 19B, 19C Victoria Street and 10, 12 Writer's Court	In year 1948	Dunbar	East Lothian	Scotland	Partner in charge
Housing, 15A-15D Victoria Street and 8 Writer's Court	In year 1948	Dunbar	East Lothian	Scotland	Partner in charge
Housing, Victoria Place	In year 1948	Dunbar	East Lothian	Scotland	PArtner in charge
Housing estate, 14-20 Lower Burnmouth	In year 1948	Burnmouth	Berwickshire	Scotland
Housing Scheme, Shepperton	In year 1949	Sunbury-on-Thames	Middlesex	England
Rossie Priory	c. 1949	Inchture	Perthshire	Scotland	Main part of house demolished and plinth courses converted to terrace
Crawford's Snack Bar interior, Queensferry Street	In year 1950		Edinburgh	Scotland
House	After 1950	Wester Howgate	Midlothian	Scotland	for himself
Fishermen's Cottages, Dunbar	Before 1951	Dunbar	East Lothian	Scotland
Housing, Buncles Court and Lamer Street	In year 1953	Dunbar	East Lothian	Scotland	Partner in charge

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The following books contain references to this person:

Bib ref classic

Author	Title	Date	Publisher	Part	Notes
RIBA	The RIBA Kalendar 1950-1951	1950	London: Royal Institute of British Architects
Willis, Peter	New architecture in Scotland	1977			p8, p10 Fishermen's Houses
RIBA	The RIBA Kalendar 1939-1940	1939	London: Royal Institute of British Architects
Glendinning, Miles	Rebuilding Scotland: The Postwar Vision, 1945-75	1997	Tuckwell Press Ltd		p14 Harbour Court Housing, Dunbarp96-7 Lamer Street Housing, Dunbarp159-60 Fishermen's Houses, Dunbar
Municipal Annual	Scottish Municipal Annual	1964		1964-1965

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The following archives hold material relating to this person:

Arc ref classic

Archive Name	Source	Source Cat No	Notes
RIBA Nomination Papers	RIBA Archive, Victoria & Albert Museum	100005	A no629 (combined box 150)
Information from AHRC/RCAHMS Spence project per David W Walker and Clive Fenton	Sent to DSA by email	200828	Clive Fenton's research notes (sent July 2010)
Death Register	H M Register House	100027

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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

Buildings and Designs

Buildings and Designs2 classic

References

Bibliographic References

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Archive References

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