Basic Biographical Details

Name: Donald Paterson Reay
Designation:  
Born: 17 July 1914
Died: 2 January 2002
Bio Notes: Donald Paterson Reay was born on 17 July 1914 in Liverpool. While he was still at school he showed considerable talent for drawing and when he was a teenager he spent a year as an exchange student in Germany where was able to study as well as enjoy various outdoor activities including mountaineering, skiing sailing and cycling. From 1931-36 he studied architecture at the University of Liverpool and was admitted ARIBA in 1937. In the following year he worked as an architectural assistant with Barnish Silcock & Thearle in Liverpool. Having been awarded a Commonwealth Fellowship he chose to study at the University of Columbia in New York where he graduated MSc in city and regional planning in 1939. He travelled widely in Europe in 1933, 1935 and 1936 (often by bicycle) and in North and Central America in 1937, 1938 and 1939. During his time at Columbia he met and married a fellow student, Sylvia Shimberg who went on to become a distinguished architect in her own right.

At the outbreak of World War II Reay was in the United States as a British citizen and was unable to return home. He therefore joined the Royal Canadian Air Force based in Nova Scotia as head of the Commonwealth Air Training Programme and from 1940 to 1945 acted as Chief Architect to the RCAF in which post he designed all buildings – flight training schools and aerodromes, including Goose Bay which was the largest base in North American- as well as installing camouflage for vital services on the east coast.

After the cease of hostilities, Reay and his wife and young family returned to the United Kingdom and for the next 10 year played a significant role in the development of architecture and town planning here. He took a post initially with the Ministry of Town and Country Planning in London, working with Sir William Holford on the technical aspects of the 1946 New Towns Act and the 1947 National Planning Act.

In 1947 he was appointed Chief Architect and Planning Officer with East Kilbride Development Corporation in which post he remained until 1952, moving to a similar post in Stevenage in 1952 where he remained until 1955. In these posts he was the design architect responsible for the overall planning and urban design of numerous industrial projects, commercial buildings and housing.

As a consequence of his achievements in these two posts Reay was elected FRIBA in 1956, proposed by D L Bridgwater, William A Holford and Hugh Casson.

The previous year Reay had accepted a visiting lecturer post at the University of California in Berkeley. He progressed up the academic ladder rapidly. He was a professor within a year while at the same time working in private practice. He entered a partnership with Professor Vernon DeMars and together with Donald Hardison won the competition for the UC Berkeley Student Centre, which resulted in the construction of four buildings: The Martin Luther King Jr Student Union, the Student Commons cafeteria and the dining room complex, Zellerbach Auditorium and Eshleman Hall. The firm undertook a number of other large projects in California and in 1965 designed two buildings at the California College of Arts and Crafts.

Reay continued his significant architectural and urban design practice from 1965 as Reay-Tsuruta Associates and from 1975 as Reay Associates. The practice undertook projects as far afield as Australia. At the age of 87 he was still an active consultant with the San Franscsco firm Del Campo and Maru.

In his academic work Reay was considered a very effective and energetic teacher and a source of inspiration to all those who passed through his classes.

Reay died on 2 January 2002, survived by his wife, three daughters, one son and eight grandchildren.

Private and Business Addresses

The following private or business addresses are associated with this :
 AddressTypeDate fromDate toNotes
Item 1 of 1Torrance House, East Kilbride, Lanarkshire, ScotlandBusiness1950 *  

* 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):
 NameDate fromDate toPositionNotes
Item 1 of 3Barnish, Silcock & Thearle19361937Assistant 
Item 2 of 3East Kilbride Development Corporation19471952Chief Architect 
Item 3 of 3DeMars & Reay1956 Partner 

RIBA

RIBA Proposers

The following individuals proposed this for RIBA membership (click on an item to view details):
 NameDate proposedNotes
Item 1 of 3D L BridgwaterEarly 1956For Fellowship
Item 2 of 3(Sir) Hugh CassonEarly 1956For Fellowship
Item 3 of 3(Professor Sir) William Graham Holford Early 1956For 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 startedBuilding nameTown, district or villageIslandCity or countyCountryNotes
Item 1 of 25 Housing, Murray 1st DevelopmentEast Kilbride LanarkshireScotlandNamed as responsible for design as former Chief Architect to East Kilbride Development Corp (per RIAS Journal p11)
Item 2 of 251949Housing at Glasgow RoadEast Kilbride LanarkshireScotland 
Item 3 of 251950Blocks of Flats, WhitemossEast Kilbride LanarkshireScotland 
Item 4 of 251950Eighteen Flats, East KilbrideEast Kilbride LanarkshireScotland 
Item 5 of 251950Limekilns HousingEast Kilbride LanarkshireScotland 
Item 6 of 251950Markshill HousingEast Kilbride LanarkshireScotlandAs Chief Architect
Item 7 of 251950Scheme of Houses, East KilbrideEast Kilbride LanarkshireScotland 
Item 8 of 251950Second Development of Whitemoss Housing Scheme, East KilbrideEast Kilbride LanarkshireScotlandTo prepare plans
Item 9 of 251950Shops, WhitemossEast Kilbride LanarkshireScotlandAs Chief Architect
Item 10 of 251951Corporation Works Department, Ringside FarmEast Kilbride LanarkshireScotland 
Item 11 of 251951East Milton Primary SchoolWestwood, East Kilbride LanarkshireScotlandTo prepare plans
Item 12 of 251951Factory, NerstonEast Kilbride LanarkshireScotland 
Item 13 of 251951Houses, Stuart StreetWhiteness East KilbrideScotland 
Item 14 of 251951Housing, Westwood SiteEast Kilbride LanarkshireScotland 
Item 15 of 251951Limekilns Housing Third Development, East KilbrideEast Kilbride LanarkshireScotland 
Item 16 of 251951Primary School, PlatthornEast Kilbride LanarkshireScotlandDevelopment Corporations were not usually involved with the construction of schools within their new town, though Donald Paterson Reay was referred to in the Builder of 27 April 1951, p606
Item 17 of 251951Twenty-two Houses, Murray StreetEast Kilbride LanarkshireScotland 
Item 18 of 251952Development Corporation Housing, East KilbrideEast Kilbride  ScotlandTo prepare plans
Item 19 of 251952Housing, Murray Development Site 6East Kilbride LanarkshireScotlandPrepared plans for 18 flats
Item 20 of 251952Murray 2nd Development HousingEast Kilbride LanarkshireScotlandTo prepare plans
Item 21 of 251952New shops, East KilbrideEast Kilbride LanarkshireScotlandTo prepare plans
Item 22 of 2514 March 1952East Kilbride Development Corporation HousingEast Kilbride  ScotlandTo prepare plans
Item 23 of 2517 October 1952Development Corporation Housing, East KilbrideEast Kilbride  Scotland41 new Weir Housing Corporation houses
Item 24 of 2527 March 1953Houses and shops, Markethill Housing SiteEast Kilbride LanarkshireScotlandTo prepare plans for new housing and shops
Item 25 of 2510 April 1953Mains Housing Site, East KilbrideEast Kilbride LanarkshireScotlandNew housing - working with Scott & Hudson

References

Bibliographic References

The following books contain references to this :
 Author(s)DateTitlePartPublisherNotes
Item 1 of 3Glendinning, Miles1997Rebuilding Scotland: The Postwar Vision, 1945-75  Tuckwell Press Ltdp13 Murray 1st Development Housing, East Kilbride
Item 2 of 3http://www.universityofcalifornia.edu/senate/inmemoriam/DonaldP.Reay.htm http://www.universityofcalifornia.edu/senate/inmemoriam/DonaldP.Reay.htm   
Item 3 of 3RIBA1950The RIBA Kalendar 1950-1951 London: Royal Institute of British Architects 

Periodical References

The following periodicals contain references to this :
 Periodical NameDateEditionPublisherNotes
Item 1 of 27Builder16 August 1949  p245
Item 2 of 27Builder19 August 1949  p245
Item 3 of 27Builder27 January 1950  p150
Item 4 of 27Builder1 December 1950  p582
Item 5 of 27Builder8 December 1950  p617
Item 6 of 27Builder17 February 1950  p279
Item 7 of 27Builder26 May 1950  p725
Item 8 of 27Builder21 July 1950  p109
Item 9 of 27Builder18 August 1950  p203
Item 10 of 27Builder12 January 1951  p87
Item 11 of 27Builder12 October 1951  p502
Item 12 of 27Builder19 October 1951  p535
Item 13 of 27Builder23 February 1951  p301
Item 14 of 27Builder16 March 1951  p401
Item 15 of 27Builder27 April 1951  p606
Item 16 of 27Builder25 May 1951  p768
Item 17 of 27Builder4 May 1951  p640
Item 18 of 27Builder1 June 1951  p803
Item 19 of 27Builder10 August 1951  p197
Item 20 of 27Builder17 August 1951  p231
Item 21 of 27Builder14 March 1952  p429
Item 22 of 27Builder21 March 1952  p464
Item 23 of 27Builder18 April 1952  p605
Item 24 of 27Builder25 April 1952  p641
Item 25 of 27Builder11 July 1952  p76
Item 26 of 27Builder27 March 1953  p509
Item 27 of 27Builder10 April 1953  p581

Archive References

The following archives hold material relating to this :
 SourceArchive NameSource Catalogue No.Notes
Item 1 of 1RIBA Archive, Victoria & Albert MuseumRIBA Nomination Papers Reay: F no5152 (Combined Box 60)