Robert Terence Kennedy [also known as R. Terence Kennedy, and as Terry Kennedy] was born in Manchester, England on 23 September 1903 and from 1923 to 1925 was articled to his father in Manchester. He then worked in the Manchester Corporation’s City Architect’s Department while at the same time studying part-time at the Manchester College of Technology and Municipal School of Art, until 1935.
Axonometric drawings of the bedroom and ground floor a Manchester Corporation house on the Wythenshawe Estate designed by Kennedy are illustrated in 'Decorative Art' 1934 (p.8).
In 1937 he moved to Liverpool as senior architectural assistant to Lancelot Keay, (1883-1974) the City Architect and Director of Housing. In 1939, Kennedy left Keay in order to collaborate with William Holford (1907-1975), Lever Professor of Civic Design at the University of Liverpool, in the design and construction of a munitions factory in Kirkby. They also joined forces with Sir Alexander Gibb and Partners in the erection of workers' hostels at Swynnerton.
In February 1943 Kennedy was appointment to the “Planning Technique” division of the new Ministry for Town and Country Planning. He remained at the Ministry until 1949 when he became Chief Planning Officer. In 1955 he was appointed Superintending Planner for New Towns within the Ministry of Housing and Local Government.
In 1957 Kennedy moved with his family to Auckland, New Zealand, and from 1957 until his retirement in 1969 was professor of town planning at the University of Auckland.
Kennedy was elected an Associate of the Royal Institute of British Architects (ARIBA) in 1932. His address was given as 1 Pleachway, Heaton Mersey, Manchester in 1933; County Architect's Office, County Hall, Chelmsford, Essex in 1935 and 1936; and c/o Director of Housing, Blackburn Chambers, Dale Street, Kingsway, Dale Street, Kingsway, Liverpool in 1938. He died in New Zealand in 1997