Basic Biographical Details

Name: Peter Geoffrey Daniel
Designation:  
Born: 6 November 1924
Died: 30 November 2015
Bio Notes: Peter Geoffrey Daniel was born on 6 November 1924. He was at educated St Paul's, London and King William's College on the Isle of Man. He served with the RNVR for five years on Arctic convoys and later in the Pacific during the Second World War and witnessed the aftermath of the Hiroshima bomb and the liberation of Hong Kong. He studied for the degree of BArch in Liverpool and was elected ARIBA in 1954. He also obtained a qualification in Landscape Architecture externally, mentored by the late Frank Clark.

After qualification he moved to Canada and worked with Central Mortgage and Housing in Ottawa for a year but returned to the United Kingdom, his first post being in Peterlee working on the South West Housing Area, together with Frank Dixon and the abstract artist Victor Pasmore.

In 1962 he was appointed chief architect and planning officer of Livingston New Town Development Corporation. He considered his greatest success was removing the line of the new M8 motorway from the Almond Valley where he wishes to locate the town centre. However his regretted that he was unable to convince Heriot Watt University to establish their campus in Livingston.

In 1962 he was heavily involved both as chairman of the organising party and host in the ground-breaking conference on landscape policy for Scotland. In a similar conference fifty years later he received a lifetime achievement award from the Landscape Institute of Scotland.

From 1964 or 1965 (sources vary about dates and whether his first job in Scotland was at Livingston) he worked on his own as a consultant and with other groups of architects and planners, apart from a short period in the late 1960s when he was a partner in the practice Dixon Daniel & Kitka. However this must have been dissolved prior to 1970 as Kitka had moved to Vancouver by this date. Projects he worked on as an independent consultant include a project for a new community in the grounds of Bothwell Castle; the Londonderry Plan; a proposed new town in Abu Dhabi (with Consarc); a tourist strategy for Jordan (with John Patterson); many environmental improvement projects in Glasgow and the Central Belt (with ADF); housing studies and the restoration of Strathpeffer Station for Ross & Cromarty Council (with Vanessa Halhead); proposals for the Balancing Lakes in Craigavon New City (with Seamus Filor); projects in Orkney and Jersey with Ben Tindall; an interpretation exercise for the River Tweed with James Carter); quarry restoration projects and environmental studies of the four Scottish Botanical Gardens (with Siobhan McDermont).

From 1973 until he reluctantly retired in 2002 he taught as a studio tutor on the Master of Landscape Architecture Programme at the University of Edinburgh. He had a challenging approach to teaching and encouraged students to test their ideas against the realities of client brief and site character.

During his life he rented a series of unusual homes, including Cambusnethan Priory, Borthwick Castle and Wedderburn Castle but in 1979 he bought Church House in Berwickshire and created garden rooms out of a potato field with fine views to the Cheviots.

Daniel married Helen Cockrell in 1953 but they divorced in 1974. He was awarded the Arctic Star in 2013 for his service on the Arctic convoys during the Second World War.

He died on 30 November 2015 aged 91, and is survived by his three children, grandchildren and great grandchildren.


Publication:

'Two Hundred Summers in a City' Souvenir programme for exhibition marking Edinburgh New Town's bicentenary.

Private and Business Addresses

The following private or business addresses are associated with this :
 AddressTypeDate fromDate toNotes
Item 1 of 4Oakerside Cottage, Castle Eden Dene, Horden (via), Co Durham, EnglandPrivatec. 1960  
Item 2 of 4Borthwick Castle, Gorebridge, Midlothian, ScotlandPrivate/business(?)c. 1960After 1970 
Item 3 of 4Wedderburn Castle, Duns, Berwickshire, ScotlandPrivate/business1975 *  
Item 4 of 4Church House, Berwickshire, ScotlandPrivate/business1979  

* 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 1Livingston New Town Development Corporation Architects Department19621965Chief Architect 

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 4 Strathpeffer railway station and ancillary buildingsStrathpeffer Ross and CromartyScotlandRestoration - with Vanessa Halhead
Item 2 of 41960sLivingston New Town (Glasgow Overspill)Livingston West Lothian and MidlothianScotlandChief Architect
Item 3 of 41965Craigshill South HousingLivingston New Town West LothianScotlandLocal Authority Architect
Item 4 of 4Early 1960sCuiken Avenue Housing SchemePenicuik MidlothianScotland 

References

Bibliographic References

The following books contain references to this :
 Author(s)DateTitlePartPublisherNotes
Item 1 of 6Glendinning, M, MacInnes, R and MacKechnie, A1996A History of Scottish Architecture  p578
Item 2 of 6Glendinning, Miles1997Rebuilding Scotland: The Postwar Vision, 1945-75  Tuckwell Press Ltdp34, 54 Livingston
Item 3 of 6Glendinning, Miles and Muthesius, Stefan1994Tower Block: Modern Public Housing in England, Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland Yale University Press: New Haven and Londonp211 Image of development under construction
p381 Gazetteer 2
Craigshill South Housing
Item 4 of 6RIBA1960The RIBA Kalendar 1959-19601959-1960  
Item 5 of 6RIBA1964The RIBA Kalendar 1964-65   
Item 6 of 6RIBA1970RIBA Directory 1970   

Periodical References

The following periodicals contain references to this :
 Periodical NameDateEditionPublisherNotes
Item 1 of 7Architects Journal10 January 1968  p83-100 Craigshill South Housing
Item 2 of 7Architectural ReviewJanuary 1965  p45 Craigshill South Housing
Item 3 of 7Builder15 May 1964  p1036
Item 4 of 7Builder15 May 1964  p1035 Craigshill South Housing
Item 5 of 7InterbuildMay 1964  p20-1 Craigshill South Housing
Item 6 of 7RIAS Quarterly2016SpringRoyal Incorporation of Architects in Scotland (RIAS)Obituary
Item 7 of 7Scotsman14 December 2015  Obituary

Archive References

The following archives hold material relating to this :
 SourceArchive NameSource Catalogue No.Notes
Item 1 of 1RIAS, Rutland SquareRecords of membership