Reginald Summerhayes
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Reginald Summerhayes (1897–1965) was a
Western Australia Western Australia (commonly abbreviated as WA) is a state of Australia occupying the western percent of the land area of Australia excluding external territories. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to th ...
n architect,
Military Cross The Military Cross (MC) is the third-level (second-level pre-1993) military decoration awarded to officers and (since 1993) other ranks of the British Armed Forces, and formerly awarded to officers of other Commonwealth countries. The MC i ...
recipient, and president of the Royal Institute of Architects of Western Australia. Summerhayes designed a range of Perth 20th century landmarks, including the Perth Dental Hospital, Lake Karrinyup Country Club, the Colonial Mutual Insurance building in
St Georges Terrace St Georges Terrace (colloquially known as "The Terrace") is the main street in the city of Perth, Western Australia. It runs parallel to the Swan River and forms the major arterial road through the central business district. Its western e ...
, and the bell tower of
Loreto Convent, Claremont Loreto Convent was a Catholic convent which operated as a girls' school in Claremont, Western Australia between 1901 and 1976. Building In 1894, businessman James Grave built the Osborne Hotel on a cliff-top in Claremont. Considered to be Pe ...
– relocated to William Street in 1992.


Life

Reginald Summerhayes was born 19 February 1897 at Bernard Street,
Claremont Claremont may refer to: Places Australia *Claremont, Ipswich, a heritage-listed house in Queensland * Claremont, Tasmania, a suburb of Hobart * Claremont, Western Australia, a suburb of Perth ** Claremont Football Club, West Australian Footba ...
to the architect Edwin Summerhayes and his wife Florence. Summerhayes graduated from Scotch College in 1913 as
dux ''Dux'' (; plural: ''ducēs'') is Latin for "leader" (from the noun ''dux, ducis'', "leader, general") and later for duke and its variant forms (doge, duce, etc.). During the Roman Republic and for the first centuries of the Roman Empire, ''dux' ...
, and won an
exhibition An exhibition, in the most general sense, is an organized presentation and display of a selection of items. In practice, exhibitions usually occur within a cultural or educational setting such as a museum, art gallery, park, library, exhibition ...
, for Ancient Greek and Latin, to the
University of Western Australia The University of Western Australia (UWA) is a public research university in the Australian state of Western Australia. The university's main campus is in Perth, the state capital, with a secondary campus in Albany, Western Australia, Albany an ...
(UWA). Summerhayes studied engineering at UWA, as there wasn't any architecture courses available in the state at the time. Summerhayes excelled at his studied, winning the Neil McNeil Scholarship in engineering in 1914 following his examinations, and in the subsequent year's exams he earned a distinction in "Engineering Drawing & Design". In 1916, Summerhayes left his studies, determined to fight in the War. Unable to join the Australian forces due to his age, he travelled by ship to the United Kingdom, where he joined the
Royal Engineers The Corps of Royal Engineers, usually called the Royal Engineers (RE), and commonly known as the ''Sappers'', is a corps of the British Army. It provides military engineering and other technical support to the British Armed Forces and is heade ...
in March 1916. Summerhayes served until 1919, including deployment to France; he was awarded a Military Cross in 1918, presented at Buckingham Palace on his 21st birthday: After the war, Summerhayes returned to his studies at UWA in 1920, and graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Engineering in April 1921. Summerhayes spent several years in
Singapore Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, borde ...
, living an effervescent life in stark contrast to his wartime experiences. He worked as an assistant architect for the Swan and Maclaren architectural firm, one of the oldest in Singapore. Summerhayes eventually rose to the position of managing architect of the Malay States branch at Kuala Lumpur by 1925. Summerhayes returned to Perth in 1924 or 1926, joining his father's architectural firm at the elder Summerhayes' suggestion, where they mainly designed residential buildings. In November 1927 he married Sheila Kathleen Durack at St Patrick's Church, West Perth. The following September their children, twins Eve and Geoffrey were born. His father Edwin retired in 1934, and as the 1930s depression ended, Summerhayes took on more commercial and public sector works. Summerhayes became involved with the Royal Institute of Architects of Western Australia (RIAWA), first as secretary from 1931–1934, and later as president, elected March 1937. In 1939, he was primarily responsible for RIAWA starting ''The Architect'', a journal that remained in publication. Summerhayes returned to the military for World War Two, in a non-active service role as a Lieutenant Colonel in the Australian Army. In the following years, his architectural business grew, and he founded Summerhayes & Associates in 1952. That same year, he was elected a Fellow of the Royal Institute of British Architects, in honour of his service to Western Australian architecture. In 1953 Summerhayes's son Geoffrey, who also became an architect, joined his father's firm. Reginald Summerhayes died, aged 68, on 28 November 1965.


Works

In the early years of his career, Summerhayes designed residential buildings in the Inter-War Old English architectural style, such as the 1929 "Georgian" residence in
Dalkeith Dalkeith ( ; gd, Dail Cheith, IPA: ˆt̪alˈçe is a town in Midlothian, Scotland, on the River Esk. It was granted a burgh of barony in 1401 and a burgh of regality in 1540. The settlement of Dalkeith grew southwestwards from its 12th-cent ...
, for Malcolm Plaistowe, the 1936 "Interlaken" house in
Mosman Park Mosman is a suburb on the Lower North Shore region of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Mosman is located 8 kilometres north-east of the Sydney central business district and is the administrative centre for the local governm ...
for Mrs I.B. Rowley, and his own 1929 house at the southern corner of
Stirling Highway Stirling Highway is, for most of its length, a four-lane single carriageway and major arterial road between Perth, Western Australia and the port city of Fremantle in Western Australia on the northern side of the Swan River. The speed limit ...
and Wilson Street in
Claremont Claremont may refer to: Places Australia *Claremont, Ipswich, a heritage-listed house in Queensland * Claremont, Tasmania, a suburb of Hobart * Claremont, Western Australia, a suburb of Perth ** Claremont Football Club, West Australian Footba ...
. In the mid-1930s he worked on buildings included the Physics and Chemistry Science Building at UWA, opened in 1935; new council chambers for the
Town of Claremont The Town of Claremont is a Local government areas of Western Australia, local government area in the inner western List of Perth suburbs, suburbs of the Western Australian capital city of Perth, located about halfway between the port city of Fr ...
, whose earlier chambers were built by his father; and in a supervisory role, the 1936
Colonial Mutual Life Assurance Society The Colonial Mutual Life Assurance Society Limited, later Colonial Limited, and commonly known as Colonial Mutual, Colonial Mutual Life, and/or CML, was a diverse international financial services company headquartered in Melbourne, Australia. ...
Building (on the corner of
St Georges Terrace St Georges Terrace (colloquially known as "The Terrace") is the main street in the city of Perth, Western Australia. It runs parallel to the Swan River and forms the major arterial road through the central business district. Its western e ...
and Sherwood Court), and it's 1937 11-storey companion building, Lawson Flats on Sherwood Court. By 1937, Summerhayes had been successful in various architectural competitions, including a flats and professional chambers for UWA, Wagin's town hall, Perth Dental Hospital, Lake Karrinyup Country Club, and in conjunction with sculpture Edward Kohler, an equestrian statue of
King George V George V (George Frederick Ernest Albert; 3 June 1865 – 20 January 1936) was King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions, and Emperor of India, from 6 May 1910 until his death in 1936. Born during the reign of his grandmother Que ...
for
Brisbane Town Hall Brisbane Town Hall may refer to: * Brisbane City Hall, the current building in Brisbane, Queensland, Australia * First Brisbane Town Hall The Town of Brisbane was a local government area for Brisbane in Queensland, Australia from 1859 to 1903. ...
. He designed church buildings in a Romanesque style, for the new buildings at Loreto College Swanbourne at Claremont in 1937, All Hallows' Church in Inglewood in 1938, and St Joseph's Catholic Church in Manjimup built 1953–55. Summerhayes also designed multiple hotels built in 1940, including Highway Hotel in Claremont, the Civic Hotel in Inglewood, and the Swanbourne Hotel.


Legacy

Various buildings designed by Summerhayes have been demolished, but one of his prominent works – the bell tower of
Loreto Convent, Claremont Loreto Convent was a Catholic convent which operated as a girls' school in Claremont, Western Australia between 1901 and 1976. Building In 1894, businessman James Grave built the Osborne Hotel on a cliff-top in Claremont. Considered to be Pe ...
– was relocated to William Street in 1992. The rebuilding and restoration project was performed by the
Holmes à Court Holmes à Court is a surname which may refer to: * William à Court-Holmes, 2nd Baron Heytesbury (1809–1891), British Member of Parliament who changed his last name to Holmes à Court in 1860 ** Herbert Edward Holmes à Court (1869–1934), Brit ...
family company, Heytesbury Holdings, supervised by Summerhayes's son Geoffrey.


References


Further reading

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Summerhayes, Reginald Architects from Western Australia 1897 births 1965 deaths