Identity area
Type of entity
Authorized form of name
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Description area
Dates of existence
History
McCarter Nairne & Partners was a Vancouver-based architectural firm founded in 1921 by John Young McCarter (1886-1981) and George Colvil Nairne (1884-1953). McCarter was born in Victoria, BC and trained in the offices of Thomas Hooper (Victoria, Vancouver) before entering private practice in 1912. He served overseas during the First World War. In 1918, he married Ann Gordon and they had two children, Joan Chalmers and Jean Leslie. Nairne was born in Inverness, Scotland in 1884 and articled there before working in New York, Seattle, and finally, Vancouver. He also served overseas during World War I. The partnership began in 1921 and primarily designed houses and small apartment buildings. Within a few years they moved on to design two of Vancouver's first skyscrapers (the Marine Building and the Georgia Medical Dental Building). During the Second World War, the firm assumed the responsibility for federal wartime housing and urban development in British Columbia. After the war was over, the firm designed a wide variety of buildings, including factories, banks, and schools. The last project involving both partners above was the General Post Office (Vancouver), a one-square city block structure.