GOVAN, James (1882-1963), a leading Canadian expert in hospital design and construction, was born in Wishaw, Lanarkshire, Scotland on 10 January 1882 and was educated at Motherwell Technical School and St. John's Private School at Hamilton, Scotland. At the age of fifteen he joined the office of James G. Cowie (c. 1872-1947), a prominent Motherwell architect, and trained under his supervision from 1897 until 1907. He also attended classes in architecture and design at the famous Glasgow School of Art, graduating from that institution in 1905.
The evolution of his firm in Toronto includes the following names:
James Govan, Toronto, 1912-30
Govan & Ferguson, Toronto, 1931-32 (with William Ferguson)
Govan, Ferguson & Lindsay, Toronto, 1932-47 (with William Ferguson and Harold Lindsay)
Govan, Ferguson, Lindsay, Kaminker, Maw, Langley & Keenleyside, Toronto, 1947- until after 1950. (with William Ferguson, Harold Lindsay, Benjamin Kaminker, Samuel H. Maw, Charles Langley, and Patrick Keenleyside.
In 1907 he was invited by John M. Lyle to come to Canada and to work as his assistant. Govan remained with Lyle until 1912, then opened his own office later that same year, and acted as advisor to the Ontario Government as a staff architect in the Health Services Division of the Department of the Provincial Secretary. There, he was able to introduce innovative new architectural concepts for treating mentally ill patients by devising a plan for the new Hospital for the Insane at Whitby, Ont. which was based on small-scale residential pavilions arranged in a 'village' . This was a radical departure from the 19th C. precedent of housing patients in a large single asylum hospital building. His success with this proposal at Whitby made him an expert in the field of residential hospital design, sought after by authorities in New York State, in New Mexico, in Cleveland, and elsewhere.
Govan continued to work for the Ontario Government until 1925, then became a consulting architect in 1925, and opened his own office in partnership with William Ferguson in 1929. They were joined by Harold Lindsay in 1931, and the firm continued to grow, taking additional partners in 1947. They specialised in the design of hospitals, and their works can be found every province in Canada except British Columbia. Their best known projects include the Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto (1948-50), and Mount Sinai Hospital, Toronto (1949). Govan died in Toronto on 12 March 1963 (obit. Globe & Mail [Toronto], 13 March 1963, 2; Toronto Star, 13 March 1963, 62; Glasgow Herald, 14 March 1963, 10; R.A.I.C. Journal, xl, April 1963, 78; biog. and port. Const., xviii, July 1925, 239; biog. R.A.I.C. Journal, xxv, April 1948, 136-7; biog. and port. National Reference Book, 1959-60, 861). Despite the death of the Govan as founding partner in 1963, the firm remained active until after 1980 and had by then been renamed Govan, Kaminker, Keenleyside, Wilson, Milne, Praetorius Slauenwhite & Stevenson Architects.
J. GOVAN
TORONTO, ONT., pair of houses on Albemarle Avenue near Logan Avenue for Herbert Rann, 1910 (Toronto b.p. 20216, 29 April 1910)
WHITBY, ONT., Hospital for the Insane, Cottage Hospital and Sanatorium, 1912-14 (Canadian Builder & Carpenter [Toronto], v, June 1915, 15-16, illus. & descrip.; Const., ix, Oct. 1916, 319-46, illus. & descrip.; C.R., xxxi, 10 January 1917, 25-44, illus. & descrip.)
GODERICH, ONT., General Hospital, 1920 (Border Cities Star [Windsor], 28 April 1920, 7)
BOWMANVILLE, ONT., Boy's Training School, Lamb's Road near Concession Street East, Municipality of Clarington, 1924 (C.R., xxxviii, 22 Oct. 1924, 50; Architectural Conservancy of Ontario, 80 for 80: Celebrating 80 Years of the A.C.O., 2013, 42-3, illus. & descrip., but lacking attribution)
ALLISTON, ONT., Stevenson Memorial Hospital, 1928 (R.A.I.C. Journal, vi, Sept. 1929, 312)
GOVAN & FERGUSON
CHARLOTTETOWN, P.E.I., Prince Edward Island Hospital and Nurse's Home, Brighton Road, 1932-33 (C.R., xlvi, 22 June 1932, 41; Guardian [Charlottetown], 11 Oct. 1932, 1, 6 & 9, descrip.)
GOVAN, FERGUSON & LINDSAY
TORONTO, ONT., Tower Pavilion for the Toronto Western Hospital, Bathurst Street at Dundas Street West, 1934-35; major addition, 1950 (Toronto b.p. 41062, 21 Aug. 1934; b.p. 45659, 8 Aug. 1935; b.p. 7227, 24 April 1950; C.R., xlix, 6 Nov. 1935, 963-67, illus. & descrip.; Canadian Hospital, xiii, Jan. 1936, 13-34, illus. & descrip.; Canadian Hotel Review, xxi, 15 Nov. 1943, 10, 12-13, illus. & descrip.)
BELLEVILLE, ONT., major addition and alterations to Belleville General Hospital, 1938 (C.R., li, 6 July 1938, 31)
TILLSONBURG, ONT., major addition to Soldier's Memorial Hospital, Rolph Street, 1938-39 (C.R., li, 23 Nov. 1938, 27)
FREDERICTON, N.B., major addition to Victoria Public Hospital, Brunswick Street, 1939 (C.R., lii, 31 May 1939, 29, t.c.)
TORONTO, ONT., Grace Hospital, for the Salvation Army, Davisville Avenue, 1944 (Canadian Hospital, xxi, July 1944, 43, illus. )
TORONTO, ONT., Hospital for Sick Children, University Avenue, 1948-50 (R.A.I.C. Journal, xxv, Sept. 1948, 307, illus.; xxviii, June 1951, 153-78, 189-91, illus. & descrip.; C.R., lxi, July 1948, 128, t.c.; The Builder [London], clxxxi, 28 Dec. 1951, 889-95, illus. & descrip.)
PETERBOROUGH, ONT., Civic Hospital, Clonsilla Avenue, 1947 (C.R., lx, June 1947, 108)
CHARLOTTETOWN, P.E.I., Private Patient's Pavilion at the Charlottetown Hospital, near Haviland Street, 1948-49 (Charlottetown Guardian, 12 April 1949, 5, descrip.)
KITCHENER, ONT., Kitchener-Waterloo Hospital, King Street, 1948-49 (C.R., lxi, May 1948, 175)
MONCTON, N.B., City Hospital, MacBeath Avenue at Garfield Street, 1949 (C.R., lxiii, March 1949, 138)
FORT WILLIAM, ONT., McKellar Hospital, 1949 (C.R., lxii, April 1949, 152)
SYDNEY, N.S., St. Rita's Roman Catholic Hospital, King's Road, 1949 (C.R., lxii, Aug. 1949, 222)
TORONTO, ONT., Mount Sinai Hospital, University Avenue at Elm Street, 1949 (R.A.I.C. Journal, xxv, Sept. 1948, 307, illus.; Toronto b.p. 4097, 15 Aug. 1949)
SARNIA, ONT., major addition and alterations to Sarnia General Hospital, 1950 (C.R., lxiii, Jan. 1950, 146, t.c.; Canadian Hospital, xxvii, March 1950, 29, illus.)
SASKATOON, SASK., major addition to City Hospital, Queen Street, 1950 (C.R., lxiii, May 1950, 142)
ST. THOMAS, ONT., Memorial Hospital, 1950 (C.R., lxiii, June 1950, 124)
SIMCOE, ONT., major addition to Norfolk General Hospital, 1950 (C.R., lxiii, July 1950, 120)
ST. STEPHEN, N.B., Charlotte County Hospital, 1950-51 (C.R., lxiii, Nov. 1950, 117)
PARIS, ONT., major addition to Willett Hospital, 1950 (C.R., lxiii, Oct. 1950, 154)