PIRIE, Alexander (1868-1935) was active in Alberta where he began to practise architecture in Calgary in 1910. Born in Turriff, Aberdeenshire, Scotland on 2 January 1868, we was brought to Canada as a child in 1872 and educated in Pembroke, Ont. and at Woodstock Baptist College in Woodstock, Ont. He appears to have had no formal training in architecture, and took up the business of general contractor as a partner in the firm of Pirie Brothers, Chapleau, Ont. in 1891-93. He arrived in Alberta in 1899 and worked as a builder and contractor in Lethbridge before moving to Calgary in 1904. In 1907 Pirie submitted an entry in the competition for the new Calgary City Hall. His design was one of eight schemes sent in by Canadian architects, and Pirie was awarded Second Prize of $250 for his effort (Morning Albertan [Calgary], 7 May 1907, 4, list of competitors; inf. Lynn Bullock, Corporate Archives, City of Calgary). The first prize was awarded to William Dodd.
The name of Pirie first appears in early newspapers in Calgary in early 1905; his best known work in that city is the Devinish Apartments (1911), a distinctive brick walk-up apartment complex with octagonal turrets (now altered after the removal of their crenelated parapets) which enhanced the castle-like appearance of the building. Pirie remained active until 1930, and died in Calgary on 24 September 1935 (obit. Calgary Albertan, 25 Sept. 1935, 12; biog. and port. Who’s Who and Why in Canada, 1913, 663; biog. in Calgary Alberta: Merchants & Manufacturers Record, 1911, 200)
Alexander PIRIE (works in Calgary)
4th AVENUE EAST, residence for James C. Linton, 1905 (Daily Herald [Calgary], 28 Feb. 1905, 4, t.c.)
DEVINISH APARTMENTS, 17th Avenue West at 8th Street West, for O.G. Devinish, 1911 (C.R., xxv, 1 Feb. 1911, 33; Morning Albertan [Calgary], 28 Feb. 1911, 31; B. Melnyck, Calgary Builds 1905-1914, 1985, 71, illus.)
JOHNSTON BLOCK, 7th Avenue West, a six storey commercial block for A.C. Johnston, 1911-12 (C.R., xxv, 29 Nov. 1911, 64; and xxvi, 10 April 1912, 69; Morning Albertan [Calgary], 26 April 1912, 15, descrip.; Calgary Alberta: Merchants & Manufacturers Record, 1911, illus.)
14th AVENUE WEST, at 4th Street West, apartment block for an unnamed client, 1911-12 (C.R., xxv, 27 Dec. 1911, 63)
9th AVENUE, at 5th Street, industrial housing building, possibly a tract housing development, commissioned by the City Council of Calgary, 1913-14 (C.R., xxvii, 18 June 1913, 68; and xxviii, 18 Feb. 1914, 78)
PROPHETIC BIBLE INSTITUTE, 1927 (dwgs. at Canadian Architectural Archives, Univ. of Calgary, Acc. PIR 27P 74)
12th AVENUE WEST, apartment block for J. Diamond, possibly The Lorraine Apartments, 1929 (C.R., xliii, 14 Aug. 1929, 70)
12th AVENUE WEST, at 7th Street West, apartment block for S. Diamond, possibly The Adadia Apartments, 1929 (C.R., xliii, 9 Oct. 1929, 55)
COMPETITIONS
YOUNG MEN'S CHRISTIAN ASSOCIATION, 9th Avenue East, 1906. Pirie was one of 4 architects who submitted a design for this major project in Calgary. The proposal by Pirie was set aside in favour of the winning design by Hodgson & Bates (Daily Herald [Calgary], 20 March 1906, 1)