Title and statement of responsibility area
Title proper
Thompson, Berwick, Pratt & Partners fonds
General material designation
- Architectural drawing
- Photographic material
- Textual record
Parallel title
Other title information
Title statements of responsibility
Title notes
- Source of title proper: The title is based on the contents of the fonds.
Level of description
Fonds
Repository
Reference code
Edition area
Edition statement
Edition statement of responsibility
Class of material specific details area
Statement of scale (cartographic)
Statement of projection (cartographic)
Statement of coordinates (cartographic)
Statement of scale (architectural)
various scales
Issuing jurisdiction and denomination (philatelic)
Dates of creation area
Date(s)
Physical description area
Physical description
22.9 m of textual records
369 photographs
ca. 4700 architectural drawings
Publisher's series area
Title proper of publisher's series
Parallel titles of publisher's series
Other title information of publisher's series
Statement of responsibility relating to publisher's series
Numbering within publisher's series
Note on publisher's series
Archival description area
Name of creator
Administrative history
George Lister Thornton Sharp was born in 1880 in London, England and educated at Haileybury. In 1908 he came to Vancouver and formed a business partnership with Charles Joseph Thompson. Thompson was also born in London in 1878. From 1906 to 1908, he was assistant chief architect for the CPR before joining Sharp to form the architectural firm of Sharp & Thompson. The firm was responsible for the design of such significant buildings in Vancouver as the BC Electric Building. Over the years, it played an essential role in developing the built environment of Greater Vancouver. Importantly for UBC's history, Sharp & Thompson won the competition in 1912 to design the Point Grey campus for the University. The firm built the first four original campus buildings and became the official architectural firm of the University, a position which it held until late into the 1950s. The company changed its name to Sharp & Thompson, Berwick, Pratt in 1945, when two new partners joined. When Sharp resigned in 1955, the name was changed again to Thompson, Berwick & Pratt. When the firm merged with two engineering companies who had worked with Thompson, Berwick & Pratt on past projects, the name was changed again to Thompson, Berwick, Pratt & Partners. Finally, the firm was re-organized and re-named Hemingway Nelson Architects in 1990.
Custodial history
Scope and content
The fonds comprises the business records of Sharp & Thompson and later Thompson, Berwick, Pratt & Partners, dating from 1912 to 1974. The records consist of signed contracts, specifications, minutes, correspondence, quotations, financial statements, reports, signed Forms of Tender, memoranda, photographs and architectural drawings. They document the planning and construction of the University of British Columbia buildings designed and overseen by the architectural firm. Also, They document the architectural firm's activities on buildings in Vancouver, the province of British Columbia and elsewhere. Some of the files represent unsuccessful bids on jobs. There are original, blueprint and ozalid architectural drawings in this collection. The drawings of University buildings consist mainly of original drawings and blueprints. The drawings of buildings in Vancouver and elsewhere are few in number and are mostly ozalid reproductions.
Notes area
Physical condition
Immediate source of acquisition
The University Archives received the records in five separate accessions: 1980, 1981, 1985, 1988, and 1990. The first four included textual records, photographs, and architectural drawings; the final accession consisted of 144 tubes containing approximately 3402 architectural drawings.
Arrangement
Language of material
Script of material
Location of originals
The drawings from the 1980 accession subseries can be found in the archives vault map cabinets. Please ask archives staff for details.
Availability of other formats
Restrictions on access
Terms governing use, reproduction, and publication
Finding aids
Please see the finding aid for the list of files. The file list is in two parts. Part 1 focuses on textual records, photographs, and architectural drawings. Part 2 provides complete and detailed descriptions of all architectural drawings.
Uploaded finding aid
Associated materials
At the University of Calgary, the Canadian Architectural Archives holds a sizable Thompson, Berwick, Pratt & Partners fonds, containing most of the drawings from the non-UBC projects.
Accruals
General note
For background information on the firm of Sharp and Thompson and its successors, please see History 545 paper The Firm that Built Vancouver: An Administrative History of Thompson, Berwick, Pratt & Partners, by Jayne Bellyk, April 14, 1989.
Alternative identifier(s)
Standard number area
Standard number
Access points
Subject access points
Place access points
Name access points
- Sharp and Thompson (Firm) (Subject)