ROBB, Frederick Garfield (1881-1936) was born in Montreal on 25 September 1881 and was one of three students to graduate from the Architecture Dept. at McGill University in 1907. As the brother-in-law of David R. Brown, it would appear that Robb had the family connection necessary to join the office of Brown & Vallance in 1906. He remained there until 1910, then left for New York City and worked for Warren & Wetmore, a leading firm who had just received a commission for a new hotel in Montreal. They, in turn, sent Robb back to Montreal to superintend the construction of the Ritz Carlton Hotel, a refined Beaux-Arts landmark (1911-12), and Robb was later called upon to design a large addition to the hotel in 1929. Robb opened his own office in 1912, and joined the R.A.I.C. and the P.Q.A.A. that same year. In 1914 he collaborated with C. Gordon Mitchell on submitting a design in the competition for the new Departmental Buildings in Ottawa. Their scheme, one of 62 submissions, was among the six finalists, and for their effort they eventually received a prize of $5,000, but the project was ultimately cancelled by the federal government (NAC, RG11, Vol. 2951, File 5307-1-C, dated 14 July 1923).
Robb was a Gothicist, and worked from a 'homely office' in Montreal. He was associated with a circle of friends active in the Arts Club in Montreal, and, despite his great shyness, his architectural work was '..of a uniform high quality both in design and construction' (R.A.I.C. Journal, xiii, May 1936, 103). One of his best works was the refined neo-Gothic tower and block for the Engineering Faculty at McGill University, designed in 1927. In the spring of 1930 he hired G. Kenneth Crowe as an assistant, and collaborated with him on several projects for the Shawinigan Water & Power Co. in a progressive modernist style, but after the untimely death of Robb on 22 April 1936, Crowe became his successor and continued the practise under his own name (obit. Gazette [Montreal], 23 April 1936, 11; Montreal Star, 24 April 1936, 11; obit. R.A.I.C. Journal, xiii, May 1936, 103)
(works in Montreal unless noted)
MONTREAL LIGHT, HEAT & POWER CO., St. Urbain Street, a ten storey addition at the rear of their existing office building, 1913 (La Presse [Montreal], 3 May 1913, 8, illus.)
QUEBEC CITY, QUE., major addition to Saint Bridgit's Home, for St. Patrick's Parish, de Salaberry Avenue, 1920 (C.R., xxxiv, 4 Aug. 1920, 58; Quebec City b.p. 5594, 23 Aug. 1920)
ROYAL ARTHUR SCHOOL, Canning Street, 1922 (C.R., xxxvi, 26 April 1922, 50)
BREMNER, NORRIS & CO. LTD., McGill College Avenue, a residence, 1922 (C.R., xxxvi, 21 June 1922, 58)
WESTMOUNT, residence for Alex Hutchison, Montrose Avenue, 1922 (C.R., xxxvi, 26 July 1922, 82; R.A.I.C. Journal, I, Oct.-Dec. 1924, xxix, illus. in advert.)
DRUMMOND McCOLL & CO. LTD., Wellington Street, warehouse, 1923 (C.R., xxxvii, 28 Feb. 1923, 45; Montreal, Architecture Industrielle, 1982, 116-17, illus.)
HENDERSON & BARWICK, Smith Street, factory, 1928 (C.R., xlii, 6 June 1928, 56)
MOUNT ROYAL PROTESTANT SCHOOL, Clark Street, 1928 (C.R., xlii, 29 Aug. 1928, 52)
MOUNT ROYAL, Dunrae Gardens Protestant School, Dumfries Road near Dobie Avenue, 1929 (Gazette [Montreal], 23 May 1929, 5, descrip.; inf. Scott Edwards)
RITZ CARLTON HOTEL, Sherbrooke Street West, a major addition of 200 rooms, 1929 (C.R., xliii, 16 Jan. 1929, 48; Canadian Hotel Review, viii, April 1930, 33)
McGILL UNIVERSITY, Engineering Building for Dept. of Geology, Mining and Metallurgy, 1930 (R.A.I.C. Journal, iv, June 1927, 229, illus.; C.R., xliv, 5 Feb. 1930, 54)
INTERNATIONAL PAINT LTD., Hazen Street, a large 3 storey addition to factory, 1930 (Montreal Daily Star, 2 Jan. 1930, 3, descrip.)
MOUNT ROYAL, St. Peter's Anglican Church, Stratford Road at Carlyle Avenue, c. 1932 (P.Q.A.A. application form for G.K. Crowe, list of works)
(with G.K. Crowe) SHAWINIGAN FALLS, QUE., showroom and offices for the Shawinigan Water & Power Company, c. 1935-36 (R.A.I.C. Journal, xiv, Feb. 1937, 28-9, illus. & descrip.)
(with G.K. Crowe) TROIS RIVIERES, QUE., Operations Building for the Shawinigan Water & Power Company, c. 1935 (P.Q.A.A., letter from F.G. Robb dated 3 April 1936)
(with G.K. Crowe) VALLEYFIELD, QUE., showroom and offices for the Shawinigan Water & Power Company, c. 1935-36 (P.Q.A.A., letter from F.G. Robb dated 3 April 1936)