Arthur Richard Calvert was born in Clapham, Surrey, England in October 1852 and was articled to M. M. Kirkland in Huddersfield, Yorkshire and remained with him for two years. He was then employed in the office of the Borough Surveyor of Huddersfield, and worked with Robert Evans (1832-1911) and William Jolley (1836-1919) of Evans & Jolley in Nottingham for three years.
Calvert commenced independent practice as an architect in Nottingham in 1879. He was in partnership with William Warren Wright in Nottingham until 1891, and with William Richard Gleave (1868-1933) as A.R. Calvert & W.R. Gleave in Nottingham from 1903 to 1911,
Calvert died in Nottingham on 1 September 1922.
Architectural projects by Calvert included housing, 2-12 Dale Street, Sneinton; Nottingham (1894); Nottingham and County Constitutional Club, 26-28 Market Street, Nottingham (1897); Morris and Place’s Auction Mart, 25 Bridlesmith Gate, Nottingham 1900); Giltbrook Almshouses (1901); 8 Low Pavement, Nottingham (1903); Alterations to Nottingham Savings Bank, 11 Low Pavement, Nottingham (with William Richard Gleave, 1903); Shops and houses, Victoria Embankment, Nottingham (with William Richard Gleave, 1904); 30 Bridlesmith Gate, Nottingham (1906-07); The Canon Lewis Memorial Hall, Ransom Road, Nottingham (with William Richard Gleave, 1907); Dorothy Boot Homes, Wilford, Nottingham (1908); Rebuilding of Old Moot Hall Wine Vaults (1908); Estate Office, 7a Lenton Road, The Park Estate, Nottingham (1909); and Enfield Chambers, 14-16 Low Pavement, Nottingham (with William Richard 1909-10).
Directory of British Architects 1834-1914. Compiled by Antonia Brodie, et al. Volume 1: A-K. London; New York: British Architectural Library, Royal Institute of British Architects/Continuum, 2001