Basic Biographical Details

Name:	Ludovic Gordon Farquhar
Designation:
Born:	9 September 1899
Died:	23 December 1945
Bio Notes:	Ludovic Gordon Farquhar was born at Bridge of Weir on 9 August 1899, the son of Andrew Farquhar and his wife Hilda Harrington Mann, artist and sister of the portrait painter G Harrington Mann. He was called up on leaving school, entering Sandhurst, and was commissioned in the Gordon Highlanders, seeing out the end of the war in France. In 1920 Farquhar enrolled for the Diploma Course at Glasgow School of Architecture while in the office of Alexander David Hislop (Campbell & Hislop), and was awarded the Rowand Anderson travelling scholarship. In mid 1925 he sat the qualifying exam and was elected ARIBA on 30 November 1925, his proposers being Charles Gourlay, John Keppie and John Watson. He then moved to London as an assistant at Sir John Burnet & Partners for about a year before emigrating to New York to work for Mayers, Murray & Phillip, where he first met Francis Lorne. He subsequently worked for Beaux-Arts skyscraper builder Raymond M Hood, architect of the Rockefeller Center in New York, on the Century of Progress Exhibition at Chicago in 1929-30; and finally for Henry Corse. Lorne returned to London as partner in Burnet Tait & Lorne in 1930, and in 1931 he and his sister Helen, the practice secretary, invited Farquhar to return. At or about that time Farquhar married their sister Marie. Within the office Farquhar shared a room with Helen Lorne, fulfilled a role similar to that of David Raeside, who had died in 1928, and had a large hand in the preparation of the Information Book of Sir John Burnet Tait & Lorne: as Francis Lorne put it, 'His American training made him so capable to help and, too, his heart was in the idea … No drawing office ever ran so smoothly because his hand was always on the regulator, and what a sympathetic hand it was! The draughtsmen loved and respected him; the most difficult of clients automatically gravitated towards him and the builders and technical specialists all felt with justification that they had an understanding and sympathetic friend.' Those who worked under him found him terribly serious to the point of being rather humourless but, again in Lorne's words, he would 'put the solution over with such quietness and naturalness of manner … that one felt he was right … because one felt it was one's very own idea he was developing'. After business picked up in about 1933, he spent much more time at the drawing board. He worked closely with Lorne and their chief assistant, Franz Stengelhofen, almost to the point of being a practice within a practice. Farquhar was taken into partnership in 1937 and was admitted FRIBA in October 1939, his proposers being Tait, Lorne and John Murray Easton. In the paper Tait describes him as having been fully responsible for Savile Row Police Station, one of a small group of stations for which Lorne and Farquhar had won a competition, and for the extremely accomplished Chamber of Shipping Offices in Bury Court, London and National Sanatorium at Benenden. At that date Farquhar was living at 3 Rivermead Court, Hurlingham, where he caused considerable astonishment and consternation among the neighbours by playing the bagpipes - he was an excellent piper. When the Second World War broke out Farquhar was called up as a reserve officer of the Gordon Highlanders with the rank of Captain. He was posted to Singapore with the 2nd battalion and won the MC as company commander during the defence of Johore and Singapore. When Singapore fell he was put to work as a prisoner of war on the Bangkok-Moulmein Railway. After the Japanese surrender he was repatriated but died shortly after returning to his home, now 3 Pinemead Court, London, on 23 December 1945. He was survived by his wife Marie and twelve-year-old daughter Lorn.

Private and Business Addresses

The following private or business addresses are associated with this :
	Address	Type	Date from	Date to	Notes
	St Margaret's, Bridge of Weir, Renfrewshire, Scotland	Private	1925 *
	Hermiston Lodge, Bridge of Weir, Renfrewshire, Scotland	Private	c. 1930
	2, Rivermead Court, Hurlingham, London SW6, England	Private	1939 *
	1, Montague Place, London WC1, England	Business	1939 *
	3, Pinemead Court, London, England	Private	1945 *

* earliest date known from documented sources.

Employment and Training

Employers

The following individuals or organisations employed or trained this (click on an item to view details):
	Name	Date from	Date to	Position	Notes
	Campbell & Hislop	1920(?)	1925(?)	Apprentice(?)
	(Sir) John Burnet & Partners	1925(?)	c. 1926	Assistant(?)
	Raymond M Hood	After 1926	Before 1931	Assistant(?)
	Mayers, Murray & Phillip	After 1926	Before 1931	Assistant(?)
	Henry Corse	After 1926	c. 1931	Assistant(?)
	(Sir) John Burnet, Tait & Lorne	c. 1931	1937	Assistant(?)
	(Sir) John Burnet, Tait & Lorne	1937	c. 1939	Partner

RIBA

RIBA Proposers

The following individuals proposed this for RIBA membership (click on an item to view details):
	Name	Date proposed	Notes
	John Murray Easton	12 December 1939	for Fellowship
	Charles Gourlay	30 November 1925	For Associateship
	John Keppie	30 November 1925	For Associateship
	Francis Lorne	12 December 1939	for Fellowship
	Thomas Smith Tait	12 December 1939	for Fellowship
	John Watson	30 November 1925	For Associateship

Buildings and Designs

This was involved with the following buildings or structures from the date specified (click on an item to view details):
	Date started	Building name	Town, district or village	Island	City or county	Country	Notes
	1931	Hampstead Golf Clubhouse	Hampstead		London	England
	1931	Norwich Municipal Buildings	Norwich		Norfolk	England	Competition design - 2nd premiated design
	1932	Flats (Utopia Court)		Guernsey	Guernsey	Channel Islands
	1932	Flats, Brook House site			London	England	Proposed design
	1932	Mount Royal Flats			London	England
	1933	Buchanan Hotel			Glasgow	Scotland
	1933	Curzon Cinema	Mayfair		London	England
	1933	Houses in Devonshire Street			London	England
	1934	Berner Street Flats	Stepney		London	England
	1934	Chelsea House Flats	Chelsea		London	England
	1934	Evelyn Court	Hackney		London	England
	1934	Terrace of houses	St John's Wood		London	England
	Before 1934	Masonic Hall	Silver End		Essex	England
	1935	Four blocks of flats, Rutland Gate			London	England
	1935	German Hospital			London	England
	1935	Glasgow Eye Infirmary			Glasgow	Scotland	Internal reconstruction of Burnet building and reconstruction of houses in Sandyford Place with new attic
	1935	Hawkhead Infectious Diseases Hospital	Paisley		Renfrewshire	Scotland	Won competition and secured job
	1935	House for the Jubilee of George V					Competition designs (unexecuted)
	1935	Kirsop's shop			Glasgow	Scotland
	1935	Steel House	Westminster		London	England
	c. 1935	Swan Court	Chelsea		London	England	Interiors
	1936	Housing Scheme, Howwood	Johnstone		Renfrewshire	Scotland
	1936	Royal Masonic Hospital, nurses' home	Ravenscourt Park, Hammersmith		London	England
	c. 1936	Anglo American Corporation of South Africa			Johannesburg	South Africa
	1937	Benenden Sanatorium	Benenden		Kent	England	Wing added
	1937	House for Marques and Marquesa de Casa Maury	Maida Vale		London	England
	1937	Joseph Tritton School	Battersea		London	England
	1938	British Linen Bank	Johnstone		Renfrewshire	Scotland
	1938	Colonial Office	Westminster		London	England
	1938	Greenacres	Ascot		Berkshire	England
	1938	St Dunstan's Hospital Chapel	Rottingdean		Sussex	England
	1938	West End Central Police Station			London	England
	1938	Wilberforce Housing Estate	Battersea		London	England
	1939	Camps for the National Camps Federation				England
	1939	Chamber of Shipping Building, Bury Court			London	England
	1939	Ecclesfield Town Modern School	Ecclesfield		Yorkshire	England
	1939	Evacuation Camp, Broomlee Estate	West Linton		Peeblesshire	Scotland
	After 1939	Paisley General and Maternity Hospital	Paisley		Renfrewshire	Scotland	Hospital planned but only Nurses' home built (completed in 1949, after Farquhar's death) - scheme transferred to Riccartsbar site
	1947	Bakery and store	Plymouth		Devon	England
	1947	Insurance Office	Plymouth		Devon	England

References

Bibliographic References

The following books contain references to this :
	Author(s)	Date	Title	Part	Publisher	Notes
	RIBA	1930	The RIBA Kalendar 1930-1931		London: Royal Institute of British Architects
	Sir John Burnet, Tait & Partners	1986	Sir John Burnet, Tait & Partners: celebrating 150 years of excellence in Architecture		Glasgow

Periodical References

The following periodicals contain references to this :
	Periodical Name	Date	Edition	Publisher	Notes
	RIBA Journal	February 1945		London: Royal Institute of British Architects	Obituary

Archive References

The following archives hold material relating to this :
	Source	Archive Name	Source Catalogue No.	Notes
	Professor David M Walker personal archive	Professor David M Walker, notes and collection of archive material		Personal information from Margaret Brash Brodie and Harold Cullerne Pratt.
	RIBA Archive, Victoria & Albert Museum	RIBA Nomination Papers		F no3736 (box 28); A no3842 (microfilm reel 28)