Fairweather, George 1906 - 1986

George Fairweather [also known as G. Fairweather, and as G. A. E. Fearweather] was born on 14 July 1906 the son of, George Fairweather,  a cabinetmaker in Dundee, Scotland. He spent part of his childhood in South Africa but returned to Dundee in 1922 to attend Dundee School of Art. From 1923 to 1927 he worked as an apprentice in the office of the architectural firm Maclaren Soutar & Salmond in Dundee. He then spent a year as an apprentice with Mills & Shepherd.

In c.1929 Fairweather moved to London where over the next two years he worked in the office of Joseph Emberton (1889-1956), Constantine & Vernon, and W A Lewis & Partners.

In 1931 he returned to Dundee and after working in the City Architect's Department for eight months, established his own architectural practice in Montrose, Scotland. He closed the practice in 1935 and for a year worked in the office of  Sir Walter John Tapper.   He left Tapper in 1936 and later that year took up a teaching post in the Architecture Department at Bromley School of Art. He later taught at the Architectural Association School in London where he lectured on Construction and Lecturer of Building Construction.  

During the late 1930s Fairweather was briefly in partnership with Robert Furneaux Jordan (1905-1978) and Cecil Charles Handisyde (1908-2000) in the London-based architectural firm Jordan, Handisyde & Fairweather. They designed the Timber Development Board exhibit for the Empire Exhibition in Glasgow in 1938, a photograph of which is illustrated in 'Art and Industry' July 1938 p.15. They also designed a convalescent home in Copse Hill, Buckinghamshire.

While teaching at Bromley School of Art and the AA, Fairweather continued to run a private practice.  In addition to his work as an architect, Fairweather also designed furniture.  A photograph of a desk designed by him and made by Thomas Justice & Sons of Dundee is illustrated in 'Design for To-day' November 1934 (p.420); and photographs of a desk with a built-in bookcase and a table unit designed by Fairweather are illustrated in 'Art and Industry' July 1941 pp.7, 8.   He designed a rood screen for St. Mary's, Newport in 1937

Fairweather was the author of Structural Economy for the Architect and Builder (1949). He also wrote on architectural practice for the 'Architect's Journal' and other journals.

He exhibited at the Royal Scottish Academy in Edinburgh in 1935.

Fairweather was elected an Associate of the Royal Institute of British Architects (ARIBA) in 1932, and a Fellow of the Royal Institute of British Architects (FRIBA) in 1942.  He was also a Fellow of the Royal Incorporation of Architects in Scotland (FRIAS). He died in Montrose on 13 July 1986

A biographical file on George Fairweather is available on request from the Enquiry Desk, Royal Institute of British Architects Library, London