Records of Duncan and Munro, architects, Aberdeen, Scotland

Description Records of Duncan and Munro, architects, Aberdeen, Scotland

Date 1862 to 1975

Collection Records of Duncan and Munro, architects, Aberdeen, Scotland

Catalogue Number 551 51

Category All Other

Scope and Content The Duncan & Munro Collection consists of approximately 4,500 drawings and 1,400 manuscripts. Prior to World War II, drawings are largely ink and colour-wash on paper, with a few designs carried out on linen or oil-pigmented paper. Post-1945 virtually all drawings were completed on tracing paper, with occasional surviving mechanical copies on linen. The manuscripts in the collection are chiefly specifications for jobs undertaken by the practice. In many cases, the proposed plans, sections and elevations of a building were drawn on a single sheet of paper. Taking into account the total number of drawings, this indicates the large number of projects undertaken by the practice. The range of work tackled by the practice throughout its lifetime reflects the changes that were taking place in the lifestyle of the community they served. Their work on farm steadings and rural cottages at the beginning of the 20th century often included details of new water supplies, and during the 1940s the practice found itself busy working on sanitary improvements to the schools they had designed years earlier. The plans of the steadings show clearly the changes taking place in farm practice as the century progressed. The poultry houses the practice designed in the 19th century had turned into battery farming sheds by the 1942. Cartsheds and stables were altered as the horse was replaced by the tractor. The different housing types worked on by the practice indicate the shifts taking place in the society of the time. Their early work on farm cottages was replaced by work on the suburban villas and social housing of the 1940s. The 1950s saw the car come into more general use and the practice supervised the installation of petrol pumps with their illuminated signs throughout the countryside.

Archive History The Collection was stored in timber racks in the office wing of James Munro’s house in Victoria Terrace until his retirement in 1975. It was moved to a solicitor’s attic in Turriff until 1996 before being taken into the care of Aberdeenshire Council and stored at premises in Mintlaw, Aberdeenshire. The drawings in the Collection were tightly rolled by individual project, and seem to have been stored this way for some time. The Collection was catalogued and conserved as part of the Scottish Architects' Papers Preservation Project (SAPPP) between 1999 and 2004. Following the completion of SAPPP, the Collection was moved to Aberdeen City Archives under a charge and superintendence agreement. In June 2024, ahead of the relocation of the Aberdeen City Archives to a new location, the collection was temporarily transferred to HES Archives, Edinburgh.

System of Arrangement All items for each building are grouped together into projects. Projects are then grouped by decade, with all projects numbered by the earliest decade in which they appeared. Manuscript material is stored separately from the drawings, but is linked to the drawings through a shared project number.

Related Material William Liddle Duncan’s RIBA nomination papers are held at the Victoria & Albert Museum, London. Further RIBA biographical files can be found in the British Architectural Library, RIBA, London.

Access Conditions Access is unrestricted, except where conservation concerns exist. THIS COLLECTION IS LOCATED AT ABERDEENSHIRE COUNCIL ARCHIVES.

Administrative History James Duncan (1828-1907) was the son of George Duncan, a Turriff mason. He commenced practice as an architect c.1860, the school at Cuminestown (1862) being his first known work. His son William Liddle Duncan (1870-1951) studied at Robert Gordon’s College in Aberdeen and was apprenticed to his father in 1887, before completing his architectural education in Edinburgh. In 1897 he was taken into partnership in his father’s practice and until 1907 the firm was known as James Duncan & Son. After James Duncan’s death the practice became William Duncan and remained so for the subsequent 40 years. William Duncan was admitted LRIBA (Licentiate of the Royal Institute of British Architects) on 20 July 1911, his proposers including Arthur Clyne (1852-1923) and Arthur H L Mackinnon (1870-1937), and was admitted FRIBA (Fellow of the Royal Institute of British Architects) in May 1930. In 1947 the practice was renamed W L Duncan & Munro, the latter being James Munro of Victoria Terrace, Turriff, who had worked for Duncan from c. 1930 onwards. Following William Liddle Duncan’s death in 1951, James Munro took over the practice and moved it to his home on Victoria Terrace. It remained there until he retired in 1975. The Turriff-based practice in its various guises was responsible for a significant number of farm buildings, testament to the vast agricultural expansions that occurred between 1860 and 1975. Alterations to schools, houses and shops reflect an improvement in general living conditions in the rural communities of the North East during this time.

Accruals No further accruals are expected.

Accession Number 2000/245

Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/collection/1176350