Charles Geddes Soutar was born in Dundee, Scotland in 1878. He was articled to Charles Ower (1849-1921) and Leslie Ower (1851-1916) of Messrs C. & L. Ower in 1898-98, during which time he also attended Dundee Technical College. He then worked as an assistant to Leslie Ower in 1898 and to John Murray Robertson (1844-1901) in 1899-1900. Soutar returned to Ower in 1900 and worked for him as chief assistant until 1902 when he set up his own independent practice in Dundee. In 1908 he merged his practice with that of John Turnbull Maclaren (1864-1948) which subsequently became Maclaren Sons & Soutar. In 1920 they amalgamated with the firm of Messrs J. & F. Salmond to form Maclaren Soutar & Salmond. Soutar was active as an architect until the early 1940s when illness forced him to withdraw from the practice.
Soutar was elected an Associate of the Royal Institute of British Architects (ARIBA) in 1921 and a Fellow of the Royal Institute of British Architects (FRIBA) in 1922. He was Vice-President of RIBA in 1939, President of the Royal Incorporation of Architects in Scotland, and President of the Dundee Institute of Architects.
In addition to his work as an architect, Soutar was also a painter. He exhibited at the Royal Glasgow Institute of the Fine Arts and at the Royal Scottish Academy in Edinburgh. He died in Dundee on 14 [or 17 - sources differ] November 1952.
Architectural projects by Soutar [all in Scotland] included the Young Men's Christian Association buildings in Culpar, Fife (1904); premises for Caxton House in Dundee (1908); Grove Academy in Dundee (1910); Murroes and Tealing Parish Church Hall and Library in Angus (1911); St. Margaret's Manse in Dundee (1912); St. Margaret's Church in Dundee (c.1912); Noranside Sanatorium (1913); the Royal Insurance offices in Dundee (1919); the Royalty Cinema in Dundee (1919); Meigle Cottage Hospital in Meigle, Perthshire (1920); the war memorial in Balmerino, Fife (1920); the Plaza and Royal Cinemas in Dundee (c.1921); and David Smith Memorial Hospital in Kirriemuir, Angus (c.1930).
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For an additional list of architectural projects by Charles Geddes Soutar see the Dictionary of Scottish Architects 1660-1980; Historic Environment Scotland [links below]
Directory of British Architects 1834-1914. Compiled by Antonia Brodie, et al. Volume 2: L-Z. London; New York: British Architectural Library, Royal Institute of British Architects/Continuum, 2001
‘Obituary’. The Builder vol. 183, 21 November 1952 p. 755