Hemingway, Peter George

Peter George Hemingway was born in Minster, England in 1929. He was trained at Rochester Technical College in Kent, then immigrated to Canada in 1955 in response to a Government of Alberta advertisement aimed at recruiting architects. After working briefly at the Alberta Department of Public Works, he entered into a partnership with Charles Laubenthal in 1956 before taking over as sole proprietor following the departure of Laubenthal in 1966. Over the course of his career, Hemingway completed over 200 projects, largely in the Edmonton area, including schools, hotels, offices, churches, shopping centres, senior citizen homes, and various residential homes and multi-family developments. Among his numerous projects located in Edmonton, significant projects include Coronation Pool (1970, renamed the Peter Hemingway Fitness and Leisure Centre in 2005), Central Pentecostal Tabernacle (1964 & 1972), Edmonton Inn (1965 & 1973), Stanley Engineering Building (1968), Johnstone Walker Store (1964), and Muttart Conservatory (1976). Hemingway also designed several notable projects outside of Edmonton, including Market Square Kitchener (1972), Yellowknife Courthouse (1972), and Calgary’s Chinook Shopping Centre (1974). Hemingway was appointed a Fellow of the Royal Architectural Institute of Canada in 1981, and he served as president of the Alberta Association of Architects in 1982. Hemingway was a frequent contributor to Canadian Architect and other architectural publications, particularly as an advocate for Prairie architecture and design. He received two Massey Medals in architecture in 1970 for his projects Coronation Pool and the Stanley Building, becoming the first Alberta architect to win a Massey Medal. In 2012 the Royal Architectural Institute of Canada recognized the Peter Hemingway Fitness and Leisure Centre (formerly Coronation Pool) with a Prix du XXe Siècle as a landmark work of Canadian architecture. Hemingway died on May 15, 1995.