William Gordon Dey
William Gordon Dey FRIBA (1911-1997) was a Scottish architect. He was a partner in the influential firm of Gordon & Dey which specialised in college buildings and had a long-running working relationship with
Life
He was the son of
In his year out (1933-4) he made a study tour of Norway, Denmark and the Netherlands. He then worked under William Kininmonth in the offices of Rowand Anderson & Paul. In 1935 he undertook a study tour of Paris and London and enrolled in Britain’s first Town Planning course, under Frank Mears in Edinburgh. He concurrently helped the then-elderly John Begg in one of his final projects: the Westfield Autocar project in Stirling.[4] In December 1935 he qualified RIBA, giving both his home and business address as Rothiemay, 22 St John’s Road, Edinburgh: a large Victorian villa on the east side of
In 1937 he joined the office of Alexander Esme Gordon as an architect, working on the transport pavilion for the Glasgow Empire Exhibition. However this was interrupted by the
He died at the Royal Victoria Hospital in Edinburgh on 16 October 1997.
Non-Architectural Interests
Dey lived all his adult life in Corstorphine and was a keen local historian, writing Corstorphine: A Pictorial History of a Midlothian Village (1990). He was an active member (and Honorary President) of the Corstorphine Trust and oversaw the archive held in the Dower House.
He was a member of the Scottish Council for Spastics in Edinburgh and of the Abbeyfield Trust (housing the elderly). He served as a Special Constable for thirty years after the war and received a long-service medal for this role. He was also the official assistant to the Master at the Merchant Company of Edinburgh.
He served first as an Elder then as Session Clerk in St Anne’s Church Corstorphine, a post he held for 17 years.
Family
He was married to Elizabeth (Betty) Margaret Corrigall (d.2011) in 1939.
Notable buildings/works
- Furnishings in the war memorial chapel, St Giles Cathedral(1946)
- Church hall, Pennywell Road, Edinburgh (1949) main church now a listed building.
- Multiple buildings for Moray House School of Educationin the Canongate including Charteris Land, St John’s Land etc. (1952 to 1980)
- Oxgangs Primary School (1953)
- Internal refurbishment of Coldingham Priory (1955)
- Rebuilding of 176-184 Canongate (for Moray House) (1955)
- Rebuilding of 194-200 Canongate, Old Playhouse Close (1956)
- Internal rebuilding of Lodge Dunedin a Masonic lodge in Morningside, Edinburgh (1956)
- Electricity Showrooms, George Street (1960) demolished and replaced by a pastiche Georgian building
- St David’s Church, Broomhouse, Edinburgh (1960)
- Department of Brewing and Biochemistry, Heriot-Watt (now part of the International Centre for Brewing and Distilling) (1961)
- North Parish Church, Stirling(1970)
- Gannochy Trust Sports Complex, Perth (1975)
- Kinnoull House and MacMillan House (offices), Perth (1975)
References
- ^ "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 24 January 2013. Retrieved 10 February 2016.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link) - ^ Edinburgh and Leith Post Office Directory 1911-12
- ^ Dictionary of Scottish Architects: Esme Gordon
- ^ Dictionary of Scottish Architects: William Gordon Dey
- ^ Dictionary of Scottish Architects: Gordon & Dey
- ^ Dictionary of Scottish Architects: William Gordon Dey
- ^ Buildings of Scotland: Edinburgh by Gifford, McWilliam and Walker