McCarter Nairne & Partners

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PROPOSED APARTMENT BUILDING 

McCarter Nairne & Partners

Accession 71A/80.06 Perspective

 ca. 32,000 drawings. - ca. 210 items of display material. - ca. 107 m of textual records.

Canadian Architects. McCarter Nairne & Partners was a Vancouver-based architectural firm founded in 1921 by John Young McCarter (1886-1981) and George Colvil Nairne (1884-1953).

McCarter was born in Victoria, BC and trained in the offices of Thomas Hooper (Victoria, Vancouver) before entering private practice in 1912. He served overseas during World War I. In 1918, he married Ann Gordon and they had two children, Joan Chalmers and Jean Leslie.

Nairne was born in Inverness, Scotland in 1884 and articled there before working in New York, Seattle, and finally, Vancouver. He also served overseas during World War I.

The partnership began in 1921 and primarily designed houses and small apartment buildings. Within a few years they moved on to design two of Vancouver's first skyscrapers (the Marine Building and the Georgia Medical Dental Building). During World War II, the firm assumed the responsibility for federal wartime housing and urban development in British Columbia. After the war was over, the firm designed a wide variety of buildings, including factories, banks, and schools. The last project involving both partners was the General Post Office (Vancouver), a one-square city block structure.

Significant projects include: the Marine Building, Vancouver, BC; Georgia Medical Dental Building, Vancouver, BC; Canadian Services College Royal Roads, Vancouver Island, BC; University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC; Kelowna General Hospital, Kelowna, BC; General Post Office, Vancouver, BC.

Fonds consists of drawings, display material, correspondence, brochures, and office files from the architectural practice of McCarter Nairne & Partners, 1906-1953.

Title based on contents of fonds.

Acquired by donation in 1980, 1983, and 1985.

Finding aids available at repository.

Further accruals expected.

Accessions: 71A/80.06, 84A/80.19, 160A/83.15, 161A/83.16, 213A/85.06