Biography

Alfred Atkins (1850-1919) was born in Birmingham, England. He had trained primarily as a civil engineer in England and on his arrival in New Zealand in 1875 he worked on railway location in the Wanganui district. He was elected an Associate Member of the Institute of Civil Engineers in 1886 and two years later became a Fellow of the Royal Institute of British Architects. He set up practice in Wanganui in both professions and during the 1880s Atkins was in partnership with Frederick de Jersey Clere. When Atkins moved to Wellington in 1908, Roger Bacon joined him in practice and the firm of Atkins and Bacon was established. Shortly after this C H Mitchell (1891-1949) was taken on as a draughtsman. The firm continued to operate a branch in Wanganui and designed buildings at Wanganui Collegiate School including the Big School, boarding houses, Dining Hall and staff residences between 1909-21. The firm undertook several hospital designs including Cook Hospital, Gisborne (1911), and Wairoa Hospital (1912) and was also responsible for much domestic work in Wellington. Owing to failing health Roger Bacon had left the firm and moved to Blenheim about 1918. In 1919 Alfred Atkins died. C H Mitchell became a partner in the firm in 1918. Mitchell re-established the firm as a leading one in Wellington. The firm became Gooch Mitchell Macdiarmid.

Name

Atkins & Bacon

Type

Designer

Biography

William Turnbull (1868-1941) entered the architectural office of his father Thomas (1825-1907) in 1882, and received a professional education from him. In 1890, William visited Melbourne and Sydney and was engaged in the office of J A Gordon, a Melbourne architect who at that time was engaged in the design of several major commercial buildings including the Melbourne (now Victoria) Markets. In 1891 William returned to Wellington and was admitted into partnership in the firm of Thomas Turnbull and Son. This was one of the foremost architectural practices in the city at the turn of the century and it continued after Thomas Turnbull's death in 1907. William became a Fellow of the Royal Institute of British Architects in 1906, designing many important early twentieth century buildings in Wellington such as 12 Boulcott Street (1902), Turnbull House (1918), and the Wellington Free Ambulance Building (1932). The range and variety of his adaptation of architectural styles show him to be fully versed in virtually every contemporary architectural style and to have special skills and flair for masonry design.

Name

Turnbull, William (1868-1941)

Type

Architect