Records of A A Foote and Son, architects, Edinburgh, Scotland

Description Records of A A Foote and Son, architects, Edinburgh, Scotland

Date 1845 to 1964

Collection Records of A A Foote and Son, architects, Edinburgh, Scotland

Catalogue Number 551 3

Category All Other

Scope and Content The Collection consists of 115 drawings, 109 of which are stored flat. The flat drawings date from 1922 to 1964 and are predominantly for domestic and commercial work in and around Edinburgh. The six rolled drawings in the Collection are the work of the nineteenth-century Dumfries-based architect James Barbour. The manuscript material consists of brochures and miscellaneous office papers. 37 Edinburgh Dean of Guild Act of Warrant papers, dating from 1923 to 1938, are held in the Collection, the majority of which are related to the drawings. Also included is a hand-written record of assistants and apprentices that worked for the practice between 1922 and 1937, along with Foote’s own annotations, and 2 cashbooks. The 20 photographs in the Collection are of the Phoenix Cinema, Kirkwall; Dalserf village, Lanarkshire (1958); and South Morningside Church for which the practice provided additional hall accommodation (1968). There is also a framed presentation panel with four photographic views of housing in Barnton Loan and Davidson’s Mains (c. 1923-30). The earliest material in the collection is unassociated correspondence from 1845 regarding the supply and cost of stone from Binny, West Lothian. Notable omissions from the Collection include alterations to Salvation Army premises in Edinburgh; drawings for housing and non-housing in Lerwick; housing schemes in Galashiels; and alterations for the Merchant Company Education Board.

Archive History The Collection was stored in the office of A A Foote & Son at 3 Grosvenor Gardens, Edinburgh, until it was donated in its entirety in 1982. The Collection was catalogued and conserved as part of the Scottish Architects' Papers Preservation Project (SAPPP) between 1999 and 2004.

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.

Related Material RCAHMS holds a set of 68 photographs taken from a bound set of prints showing the practice’s conversion of Calton House, Dean Street, Edinburgh to premises for the photography firm Francis C Inglis (ED 14123-14191 PO). Further drawings by Alexander Allan Foote (for 279-293 St John’s Road, Edinburgh and for 13 Ravelston Dykes) can be found in the Dick Peddie and McKay Collection, also held at RCAHMS. RIBA nomination papers are held in the RIBA Archive at the Victoria & Albert Museum, London

Access Conditions Access is unrestricted, except where conservation concerns exist.

Administrative History Alexander Allan Foote (1886-1969) was articled to Thomas Saunders Robertson of Dundee in 1902 and studied at Dundee Technical College and School of Art. He transferred to the office of John Bruce & Son to complete his apprenticeship following the retirement of Robertson in 1904 and remained as an assistant until 1907. Foote then moved to London in order to gain wider construction experience and worked as chief draughtsman to Kleine Fire Resisting Syndicate Ltd whilst continuing his studies at Holloway Polytechnic. He was elected FSA Scot (Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland) in 1909 and moved to Edinburgh to take up an appointment with H M Office of Works the following year. Between 1910 and 1913 Foote studied at Edinburgh School of Art, Heriot-Watt College and Leith Technical College, passing his final exam in 1915. He was admitted ARIBA and returned to the Office of Works as Acting Assistant Architect in 1919, after serving in the Ministry of Munitions and the armed forces during the war. Later in the same year he transferred to the Department of Health for Scotland, where he held a number of positions including Assistant Architect for Housing. In 1922, Foote left the Department of Health and commenced independent practice from his home at 92 Warrender Park Crescent, Edinburgh. Later that year he established an office at 29 Hanover Street, where his practice remained for 12 years before relocating to 108 George Street in 1936. He was admitted FRIBA in 1937 and temporarily closed his office in 1940 to join the staff of the Scottish Special Housing Association (SSHA) at 11 Drumsheugh Gardens, Edinburgh. He left the SSHA in April 1945 to resume his own practice at 9 York Place, but continued to receive notable commissions from them, including housing at Currie, Bilston and Wallyford. On 1 March 1946, A A Foote’s son George Edward Foote (1916-1991) was assumed into the practice and it was renamed Alex Allan Foote & Son, Chartered Architects and Surveyors. During the 1950’s and 1960’s the practice designed the 150-seat Phoenix Cinema in Kirkwall, Orkney (1955), a number of housing schemes in Galashiels and completed various alterations for the Merchant Company Education Board, including boarding accommodation at Dean Park House (1963). In 1966 the practice moved to 3 Grosvenor Gardens where it remained until its closure.

Accruals No further accruals are expected

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