RULE, Peter, Senior (1877-1956) of Edmonton, Alta. began his career there in 1909 when, as a draftsman for the Edmonton Concrete Works Co., he won First Prize of $250 for his design of new buildings at the Exhibition Grounds in Edmonton. He was among 28 competitors who submitted plans in the province-wide architectural competition, and a description of his winning design appeared in the Edmonton Daily Bulletin, 25 Feb. 1910, 8. Born in Durham, England on 10 September 1877, he emigrated to Canada in 1909 and in 1914 he was recorded as the sole owner of Peter Rule Construction Co. By 1920 he had taken a position as a clerk in the Alberta Government Telephone Co., rising to the rank of draftsman, and later as building inspector and staff architect of that government branch. Although he appears to have had no formal training as an architect, he was awarded an Honorary Certificate of Practise by the Alberta Association of Architects in 1941 as an acknowledgement for his contribution in designing dozens of telephone exchange buildings in Alberta.
One of his largest AGT commissions was the Telephone Exchange on 6th Avenue West, CALGARY, ALTA., 1929, a striking 4 storey Art Deco block in patterned brick, completed in association with Fordyce & Stevenson (dwgs. at CAA, Univ. of Calgary, 37A 7825, Dwg. 29A4224). His career as a staff architect at AGT likely influenced the decision of his two sons John U. Rule (1904-1978) and Peter L. Rule (1913-1964) to take up the study of architecture at the School of Architecture at the University of Alberta in Edmonton, and both later became partners in the leading Alberta firm of Rule, Wynn & Rule, active from 1938 onward. Peter Rule Sr. retired in 1951 and later died in Edmonton on 31 January 1956 (obituary and port. Edmonton Journal, 1 Feb. 1956, 38)