SPROAT, William Edwardes (1878-1953) was active in Vancouver, B.C. from 1912 to 1922. Born in Glagow, Scotland on 18 July 1878 and spent five years training in the office of Robert Miller, architect of Glasgow, from 1894 to 1899. He then practised under his own name, and took a particular interest in the design of library buildings, many of them funded with generous grants from Andrew Carnegie. In 1904 he moved to Liverpool and later formed a partnership there with Eldon Warwick, as Sproat & Warwick, and their firm was successful in winning competitions for new library buildings at Ellesmere Port, a neighbourhood in Liverpool, and in nearby Birkenhead.
Sproat emigrated to Canada in 1912 and settled in Vancouver where he was active until 1921. His best know work there was the five storey Chinese Nationalist League Building (1920), but he also executed several designs for large private residences in the Shaughnessy Heights neighbourhood. He appears to have left Canada in 1922 and moved to California, and died in Los Angeles, Calif. on 25 September 1953 (biog. D. Luxton, Building The West: The Early Architects of British Columbia, 2003, 483, 519; inf. Architectural Inst. of British Columbia)
SPROAT & WARWICK (works in England)
LIVERPOOL, ENGL. Gwladys Street Elementary School, 1903; addition, 1910 (list of works in A.I.B.C. Application Form dated 14 Sept. 1920)
ELLESMERE PORT, LIVERPOOL, ENGL., Carnegie Public Library, 1908-09 (Builder [London], xcv, 12 Sept. 1908, 282-3; xcvii, 20 Nov. 1909, 557, descrip.)
BIRKENHEAD, ENGL., Borough of Birkenhead Central Public Library, Albion Street, 1908-09; demol. in 1929 for construction of the Mersey Tunnel (Building News [London], xciii, 16 Aug. 1907, 209; 23 Aug. 1907, 237-38, descrip., with illus. Plate, 250; 30 Aug. 1907, 274; Architect & Contract Reporter [London], lxxviii, Nov. 1907, 281-82, illus.; Builder [London], xcvii, 13 Nov. 1909, 534, descrip.)
LIVERPOOL, ENGL, additions to the Congregational Church, 1910 (list of works in A.I.B.C. Application Form dated 14 Sept. 1920)
W. E. SPROAT (works in Vancouver unless noted)
EBURNE, B.C., Dominion Safe Works, factory, 1912 (Vancouver Daily World, 28 Sept. 1912, 18, descrip.)
PINE CRESCENT, near Nanton Avenue, residence for Mrs. Victor J. Creeden, 1919 (British Columbia Record [Vancouver], 2 May 1919, 4)
WEST 16TH AVENUE, near Cypress Street, residence for John J. Forster, 1919 (British Columbia Record [Vancouver], 2 May 1919, 4)
ARBUTUS STREET, near Cornwall Street, residence for John E. Hooson, 1919 (British Columbia Record [Vancouver], 2 May 1919, 4)
YORK STREET, at Larch Street, residence for Mrs. C. McDonald, 1919 (British Columbia Record [Vancouver], 2 May 1919, 4)
WEST 27th AVENUE, near Hudson Street, residence for Mrs. J.A. Jewett, 1919 (British Columbia Record [Vancouver], 3 Nov. 1919, 2)
DETENTION HOUSE, Pine Street, c. 1920 (list of works in A.I.B.C. Application dated 14 Sept. 1920)
CHINESE NATIONALIST LEAGUE BUILDING [also called The Kuomintang Building], East Pender Street at Gore Avenue, a 5 storey block, 1920 (C.R., xxxiv, 31 March 1920, 62, t.c.; Vancouver Sun, 6 April 1920, 2, descrip.; and 17 April 1920, 10, descrip.; H. Kalman, Exploring Vancouver, 1978, 76, illus.; City of Vancouver Heritage Inventory - Summary Report, 1986, 34, illus.; dwgs. at Vancouver City Archives)
EAST PENDER STREET, near Gore Avenue, a 3 storey building for wholesale and retail offices, in the 200 block, "....for a well-known Chinese firm", 1920 (Vancouver Sun, 6 April 1920, 2, descrip.; and 2 Aug. 1920, 3, detailed descrip.)
HONG KONG EXPORTING CO., retail store, 1920 (C.R., xxxiv, 9 June 1920, 152)
WEST BURNABY, major additions and extensive alterations to large residence for Dr. Douglas R. Shewan, The Kingsway, at East 19th Avenue, including garage and gardener's cottage, 1920 (Vancouver Sun, 29 May 1920, 10, descrip.)
COLUMBIA THEATRE CO., Granville Street, a large theatre building, 1921 (C.R., xxxv, 2 March 1921, 58)
COMPETITIONS
HULL, CO. YORKSHIRE, ENGLAND, Carnegie Library, 1900. Sproat was one of several entrants in this competition, but his entry was passed over in favour of another submission. He later exhibited his entry in Glasgow (Catalogue of the Royal Glasgow Inst. of Fine Arts, 1900, Item 534)
SWANSEA, WALES, Swansea Harbour Trust Office Building, Somerset Place at Adelaide Street, 1901. There were 97 entries submitted in the widely publicized competition. From his office in Glasgow, Sproat collaborated with the firm of Stones & Stones, Architects of Blackburn, Lancashire, and their scheme was placed among the finalists (Building News [London], xxx, 1 Feb. 1901, 154)
RAWTENSTALL, CO. LANCASHIRE, ENGL., Town Hall, Carnegie Library & Assembly Hall, 1903-04. Once again Sproat collaborated with Stones & Stones, this time to prepare a remarkably sophisticated Edwardian scheme for the Town Hall & Library. From the 22 designs submitted, the proposal by Sproat with Stones & Stones was awarded Second Prize (Building News [London], lxxxv, 27 Nov. 1903, 723; Builder [London], lxxxv, 28 Nov. 1903, 552). An impressive double page plate showing an elaborate perspective of their scheme was later published in The Building News [London], lxxxvi, 4 March 1904, 341, descrip., with illus. plate. The local firm of Crouch, Butler & Savage were declared the winners.
WALLESEY, CO. CHESHIRE, ENGL., Liscard Public Library, 1909. The firm of Sproat & Warwick were one of four finalists who shared the Second Prize for this new library building in the town of Wallesey, south of Liverpool. Their entry was commended for the “…elevations that are powerfully drawn”, and for “ their design that embodies most of the best points of those designs bracketed [for] Second Place” (Builders’ Journal & Architectural Engineer [London], xxx, 11 Aug. 1909, 118-19, illus. & descrip.). The First Premium was awarded to Macoll & Tonge of Southport.
GLASGOW, SCOTLAND, Urban Housing Competition, 1919. Sproat was invited by the City of Glasgow to submit a proposal for the new City Housing & Health Exhibition, then in the planning stages. This residential development proposal was sited on a 1,000 acre tract, with a suggested density of 24 houses per acre. A description of the competition programme appeared in the British Columbia Record [Vancouver], 2 May 1919, 6.