Person

Atchison, John Danley

1870-1959

He played a crucial role in the introduction of innovative 'Chicago school' ideas of structure and form to the architecture of western Canada. He was educated in Chicago and attended post-secondary courses in architecture at the Art Institute of Chicago and at the Chicago Manual Training school. Hewas employed by W. G. Barfield in 1889 and remained there for three years, before joining Jenney & Mundie in 1892 where he served as student and assistant to William LeBaron Jenney (1832-1907), the eminent Chicago architect who was influential in the development of the North American steel-framed skyscraper. He worked with Jenney on his design for the Horticultural Building at the World's Columbian Exposition (1893), and in 1895 became a partner at Tuthill & Atchison. From 1896 until late 1902 he conducted his own practice in Chicago, partnering briefly with Harry W.J. Edbrooke(1903-1904), before returning to practice alone and moving to Winnipeg, Manitoba.
He was among the first architects in western Canada to introduce steel frame construction and terra cotta cladding to high rise buildings; his most accomplished designs are those for the Great West Life Building (1909-11), the Union Trust Building (1912-13), and Bank of Hamilton (1917). In 1911 he entered the competition for the Moose Jaw City Hall and submitted a striking Beaux Arts design which was awarded first prize, but the scheme was not built . In 1913 his design for the Winnipeg City Hall was awarded third prize. That same year he prepared an ambitious proposal for Grand Avenue leading to the new Legislative Buildings in Winnipeg, but this too was never built.
He remained active in Winnipeg until early 1924 when he moved to Pasadena, California and opened a new office. There, his work was primarily domestic in nature and executed in the regional Spanish Colonial style. Assisted by his son John D. Atchison Jr., he maintained an office on East California Boulevard until 1938 when he retired, perhaps due to the injuries he had suffered in a serious auto accident in 1936.

"Atchison, John Danley." Biographical Dictionary of Architects in Canada, 1800-1950. http://dictionaryofarchitectsincanada.org/node/65