Basic Biographical Details

Name:	Leonard George Pargiter
Designation:
Born:	11 July 1907
Died:	July 1984
Bio Notes:	Leonard George Pargiter was born on 11 July 1907. From 1921 to 1924 he studied full-time at Willesden School of Art and from 1925 to 1929 he took evening classes at the Regent Street Polytechnic and the Northern Polytechnic. He was exempted from the RIBA Intermediate exams. However he did not complete his studies because of a ‘medical condition’. From 1924 to 1930 he worked in the office of George Vernon, initially as an articled pupil but remaining as assistant after the completion of his articles. In 1930 he took a post as assistant in the LCC Schools Division where he worked on design and drawings. In 1932 he became an assistant in the London office of Alister G Macdonald; from 1933 to 1937 he was associate in charge of the Edinburgh office and carried out all work north of Manchester. In the latter year, 1937, he took a post as architectural assistant in the Ministry of Works and would appear to have been based in London. His Nomination Papers state that he made sketcvh designs for a number of post offices after taking up this position. Although he was a member of the Edinburgh Architectural Association in 1939-40, his address at this date was in Middlesex. From September 1941 he held ‘an executive position’ and by 1951 was responsible for a section of the Ministry’s architectural staff. Pargiter was elected LRIBA at the late date of 1951, proposed by A G Alexander (Andrew Gordon Alexander?), Alister Gladstone MacDonald and Robert Atkins. At the time of his election as FRIBA two years later in 1953, proposed by Sir Charles J Mole of the Ministry of Works, Thomas Smith Tait and Gordon Tait, he was still with the Ministry of Works where he stayed for the remainder of his career. Pargiter retired to Devon. He resigned from the RIBA in 1982 and died in July 1984 in Chichester, Sussex.

Private and Business Addresses

The following private or business addresses are associated with this :
	Address	Type	Date from	Date to	Notes
	41, Rowlands Avenue, Hatch End, Middlesex, England	Private/business(?)	1939	After 1953
	Craigcrook/12, East Field, West Hill, Ottery St Mary, Devon, England	Business	1970s	1980s

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
	George Vernon	1924	1930	Apprentice
	London School Board Architect's Office (LCC Education Committee)	1930	1933	Assistant
	Alister Gladstone MacDonald (or Alistair Gladstone MacDonald)	1932	1937	Assistant	In charge of Edinburgh office
	H M Office of Works (later Ministry of Works, Department of the Environment and Property Services Agency)	1937		Architect

RIBA

RIBA Proposers

The following individuals proposed this for RIBA membership (click on an item to view details):
	Name	Date proposed	Notes
	A G Alexander (Andrew Gordon Alexander?)	19 June 1951	For Licentiateship
	Robert Atkins	19 June 1951	For Licentiateship
	Alister Gladstone MacDonald (or Alistair Gladstone MacDonald)	19 June 1951	For Licentiateship
	(Sir) Charles Johns Mole	Early 1953	For Fellowship
	Gordon Thomas Tait	Early 1953	For Fellowship
	Thomas Smith Tait	Early 1953	For Fellowship

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
	1932	Playhouse Cinema	Montrose		Angus	Scotland	As architect in charge of Edinburgh office of Alister MacDonald
	1932	Playhouse Cinema	Elgin		Morayshire	Scotland	As architect in charge of Edinburgh office of Alister G MacDonald
	1932	Playhouse Cinema	Peebles		Peeblesshire	Scotland	As architect in charge in the Edinburgh office of Alister MacDonald
	1933	News Reel Theatre, Waverley Station			Edinburgh	Scotland	As architect in charge of Edinburgh office of Alister G MacDonald - not executed
	After 1933	Mayfair Cinema	Whitefield		Manchester	England	As architect in charge of Edinburgh office of Alister G MacDonald (which dealt with everyhting north of Manchester)
	1934	Broadway Cinema	Prestwick		Ayrshire	Scotland	As architect in charge of the Edinburgh office of Alister G MacDonald
	1936	Lyceum cinema and theatre	Dumfries		Dumfriesshire	Scotland	As architect in charge of Edinburgh office of Alister G MacDonald
	1940s	Building Trades Training Centre			London	England	As architect with the Ministry of Works
	1940s	New Courts, Royal Court of Justice			London	England	As architect in charge with the Ministry of Works
	1941	Admiralty Research Station	Greenock		Renfrewshire	Scotland	As architect with the Ministry of Works
	After 1947	Colonial Office	Westminster		London	England	Acted as Liasion Officer between Ministry of Works and Burnet Tait and Lorne
	After 1947	Foreign Office building			London	England	As architect with the Ministry of Works - modernisation
	After 1947	Government offices			London	England	Control of building contracts - as architect with the Ministry of Works
	After 1947	Government offices, Horseferry Road			London	England	Acted as Liaison architect between Ministry of Works and architects
	After 1947	House of Commons			London	England	Rebuilding - acted as Laiison Architect between Ministry of Works and architects
	After 1947	Hyde Park, boat house			London	England	As architect with the Ministry of Works
	After 1947	Office building for Ministry of Works			London	England	As architect with the Ministry of Works
	c. 1947	Clarence House			London	England	Restoration of Regency character

References

Bibliographic References

The following books contain references to this :
	Author(s)	Date	Title	Part	Publisher	Notes
	RIBA	1939	The RIBA Kalendar 1939-1940		London: Royal Institute of British Architects

Archive References

The following archives hold material relating to this :
	Source	Archive Name	Source Catalogue No.	Notes
	RIBA Archive, Victoria & Albert Museum	RIBA Nomination Papers		L no6486 (Combined Box 142); F no4784 (Combined Box 35)