Fonds - Thompson, Berwick, Pratt & Partners fonds

Title and statement of responsibility area

Title proper

Thompson, Berwick, Pratt & Partners fonds

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    Fonds

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    Statement of scale (cartographic)

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    Statement of scale (architectural)

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    Dates of creation area

    Date(s)

    • 1912-1974 (Creation)
      Creator
      Thompson, Berwick, Pratt & Partners

    Physical description area

    Physical description

    22.9 m of textual records
    369 photographs
    ca. 4700 architectural drawings

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    Archival description area

    Name of creator

    (1908-1990)

    Administrative history

    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.

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    Scope and content

    The fonds comprises the business records of Sharp & Thompson – later Thompson, Berwick, Pratt & Partners – dating from 1912 to 1974. The records consist of signed contracts, specifications, minutes, correspondence, quotations, financial statements, reports, signed Forms of Tender, memoranda, photographs and architectural drawings. They document the planning for and construction of the University of British Columbia buildings designed and overseen by the architectural firm, and also document the architectural firm's activities on buildings in Vancouver, the province of British Columbia and elsewhere. Some of the files represent unsuccessful bids on jobs. There are original, blueprint and ozalid architectural drawings in this collection. The drawings of University buildings consist mainly of original drawings and blueprints. The drawings of buildings in Vancouver and elsewhere are few in number and are mostly ozalid reproductions.

    Notes area

    Physical condition

    Immediate source of acquisition

    The University Archives received the records in five separate accessions: 1980, 1981, 1985, 1988, and 1990. The first four included textual records, photographs, and architectural drawings; the final accession consisted of 144 tubes containing approximately 3402 architectural drawings.

    Arrangement

    The file list is in two parts. Part 1 focuses on the textual records, along with the photographs and some architectural drawings. Part 2 provides complete and detailed descriptions of all architectural drawings.

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        Associated materials

        The Canadian Architectural Archives, at the University of Calgary, holds a sizable Thompson, Berwick, Pratt & Partners fonds, containing most of the drawings from the non-UBC projects.

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        General note

        For background information on the firm of Sharp and Thompson and its successors, please see History 545 paper "The Firm that Built Vancouver: An Administrative History of Thompson, Berwick, Pratt & Partners," by Jayne Bellyk, April 14, 1989.

        Alpha-numeric designations

        BCAUL control number: UBCARCH-108

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