Thompson, Berwick, Pratt & Partners

George Lister Thornton Sharp was born in 1880 in London, England and educated at Haileybury. In 1908 he came to Vancouver, and formed a business partnership with Charles Joseph Thompson. Mr. Thompson was also born in London, in 1878. From 1906 to 1908 he was assistant chief architect for the C.P.R. before joining Mr. Sharp to form the architectural firm of Sharp & Thompson. The firm was responsible for the design of such major buildings in Vancouver as the B.C. Electric Building, and over the years played an important role in the development of the built environment of Greater Vancouver. Importantly for UBC's history, Sharp & Thompson won the competition in 1912 for the contract to design the Point Grey campus for the University. The firm built the first four original campus buildings, and became the official architectural firm of the University, a position which it held until late into the 1950's. The company changed its name to Sharp & Thompson, Berwick, Pratt in 1945, when two new partners joined. When Sharp resigned in 1955 the name was changed again to Thompson, Berwick & Pratt. When the firm merged with two engineering compnies who had worked with Thompson, Berwick & Pratt on past projects, the name was changed again to Thompson, Berwick, Pratt & Partners. The firm was re-organized and re-named Hemingway Nelson Architects in 1990.