MORRIS, Robert Schofield (1898 -1964) of Toronto, Ont. holds the distinction of being one of only two Canadian architects who have received the prestigious RIBA Gold Medal from the Royal Institute of British Architects in London (the other was Frank Darling in 1915). Born in Hamilton, Ont. on 14 November 1898, he was educated at Ashbury College in Ottawa and at the Royal Military College in Kingston, but terminated his schooling there in 1915 to join the Canadian Army during WWI. He enrolled at McGill University in 1919, and graduated from the Dept. of Architecture in 1923, then moved to New York City where he trained under Carrere & Hastings (in 1924-25), and with Harry T. Lindeberg (in 1926-27). Morris returned to Montreal and worked as a draftsman for H.L. Fetherstonhaugh in 1927-28.
In 1929 he was invited by F.H. Marani to become a partner in his new Toronto firm (see list of works under Marani, Lawson & Morris). When James I. Lawson left the following year, the firm was renamed Marani & Morris, and for the next thirty years it produced a remarkable output of institutional and commercial buildings that earned it the reputation of being one of the leading architectural firms in the country. Most of their modern but conservative design work can be attributed to Morris, who excelled in producing safe, non-controversial and, at times, dull corporate buildings that were no match for those being produced by a younger generation of Canadian architects such as John B. Parkin and Peter Dickinson after WWII. Morris was elected President of the Ontario Association of Architects in 1942, and served as President of the Royal Architectural Inst. of Canada for two successive terms in 1952-53, and in 1953-54. He was elected an Associate of the Royal Canadian Academy in 1954, and a full member in 1959. In 1952 he was nominated as a Fellow of the Royal Institute of British Architects in London by Howard Robertson, a leading architect there, and it was Robertson who put the name of Morris forward for the R.I.B.A. Gold Medal in 1958. The choice of Morris for the medal surprised many architects in both Great Britain and in North America, particularly given that the other names on the short list for the 1958 medal included renowned architects such as Pier Luigi Nervi, Sir Basil Spence, and Frederick Gibberd among others.
Morris continued to work up until the day of his unexpected death in Ottawa, Ont. on 5 June 1964 while he was inspecting recent work by his firm on the Bank of Canada project on Wellington Street (obit. Globe & Mail [Toronto], 6 June 1964, 5; Toronto Star, 6 June 1964, 59; obit. R.A.I.C. Journal, xli, July 1964, 12; biog. National Reference Book, vii, 1944, 401; xiv, 1963, 638; Who’s Who in Canada, 1947-48, 1499; R.A.I.C. Journal, xxvi, Nov. 1949, 392; MacMillan Encyclopedia of Architects, 1982, iii, 240). A full summary of his accomplishments upon receiving the R.I.B.A. Gold medal appeared in the Journal of the Royal Inst. of British Architects [London], lxv, Feb. 1958, 111-14, illus., and in May 1958, 220-22, and in the R.A.I.C. Journal, xxxv, June 1958, 203-06, illus.; Aug. 1958, 317-18). A summary of his career and work was featured in Time Magazine [Canadian Edition], 20 Jan. 1958, 12. A photographic portrait of Morris was published in the Daily Commercial News [Toronto], 27 May 1936, p. 4.