HALL, Robert William Jr. (1895-1986), a talented modernist architect active in Brampton, Ontario where he is credited with the design of the Park Royal Apartments, an early and exceptional streamlined moderne landmark which was the first apartment building constructed in the town. Born in Brampton on 14 December 1895, he was the son of a Yorkshire carpenter and cabinet maker who emigrated to Canada in the early 1880’s. Hall Jr. was educated at Brampton High School and moved to Toronto and studied architecture at the University of Toronto from 1917, and graduated in 1921. He opened his own office in Brampton in 1922, and specialised in residential and small industrial projects in Brampton, Orangeville and surrounding towns in Peel County. During the Depression, he supplemented his income by serving as Town Assessor and Tax Collector in Brampton for several years. From 1940 to 1945 he worked in plant engineering for Victory Aircraft Co. and after WWII he continued to practise until 1965 when he retired. Hall died in Brampton on 28 November 1986 (biographical inf. and list of works provided by the architect Robert W. Hall Jr. to the Dictionary Editor, Letter dated 27 August 1984).
(works in Brampton)
FARR AUTO GARAGE & STATION, Main Street North, 1925-30 (Weston Times & Guide, 3 June 1925, 3, t.c.; Telegram [Toronto], 28 Jan. 1930, 35, illus.)
MAIN STREET NORTH, residence for Walter E. Calvert, 1932
PEEL MEMORIAL HOSPITAL, addition of a Service Wing, 1932; addition of two new storeys above the existing building, 1936
PARK ROYAL APARTMENTS, Wellington Street East, 1934 (Building in Canada [Toronto], Spring 1940, 13, illus.; A. Kavanagh et al, Yesterday Today: Brampton Heritage Architecture, 1982, 61, illus.)
BRAMPTON HIGH SCHOOL, addition, 1935; extensive additions, 1948-50; all demol. c. 1980 (C.R., xlix, 15 May 1935, 413; lxiii, Aug. 1950, 239)
ARMSTRONG BROS. CONSTRUCTION LTD., Highway 7, northwest of Brampton, service garage building, 1944
CHRIST CHURCH (Anglican), Elizabeth Street North, major alterations to the church, with addition of a new Parish Hall, 1945
CANADIAN METAL HOSE CO. LTD., Nelson Street West, factory, 1949
(works in Orangeville)
PRINCE OF WALES ROAD, residence for Willis Richardson, 1940
BROADWAY MOTORS LTD., sales and service garage, 1945
PRINCE OF WALES ROAD, an apartment block for Wilson Bryan, 1946
GRIGG CO. LTD., warehouse, 1946
PRINCE OF WALES ROAD, residence for John Ostrander, 1946
FAIRBAIRN MOTORS LTD., Broadway, sales and service garage, 1947
(works elsewhere)
CHESLEY, ONT., major addition and extensive alterations to Town Hall, with auditorium, public library, P.U.C. office, and fire hall, 1937 (Owen Sound Daily Sun-Times, 26 Nov. 1937, 5, descrip.)
HANOVER, ONT., movie theatre for Mrs. G.B. Rahn, Main Street, 1941 (Canadian Moving Picture Digest [Toronto], 19 April 1941, 4)
GEORGETOWN, ONT., residence for Kenneth Langdon, Edith Street, 1941
GEORGETOWN, ONT., Arthur Scott Motors Ltd., sales and service garage, 1947
STREETSVILLE, ONT., residence for Harry Hope, Queen Street, 1948
SNELGROVE, ONT., residence for Leonard Bertram, Highway No. 10, 1949