HOLABIRD & ROCHE, architects, of Chicago, Illinois, one of oldest (and largest) architectural firms in the United States, can be linked to several projects in Canada. The partnership was formed in 1881 by William Holabird (1854-1923) and Martin Roche (1853-1927), and they are credited with innovative early skyscraper designs in Chicago such as the Tacoma Building (1888-89), the Pontiac Building (1891), and the Old Colony Building (1893-94). Their firm grew rapidly, and by 1910 they had completed over 30 major commissions for tall commercial buildings in Chicago, but their best works were yet to come, including the Rand McNally Co. Building which fills an entire city block (1911-12), and the 333 North Michigan Building (1927-28).
After the death of William Holabird on 18 July 1923, and the subsequent death of Martin Roche on 6 June 1927, a new firm was created by John Augur Holabird (1886-1945), son of William Holabird, who then invited John W. Root to collaborate with him, and together their new firm continued to grow, and they are credited with two Canadian projects including a CNR Railway Terminus project in Montreal (1944-55), and a major $5 million addition with 300 rooms to the MacDonald Hotel in Edmonton, Alberta (1950-52).
A detailed biography and list of works by Holabird & Roche was published in the MacMillan Encyclopedia of Architects, 1982, Vol. 2, p. 403-05. A biography and dated list of works for each partner can be found in H. Withey, The Biographical Dictionary of American Architects, 1956, 293-94, and 518-19. The firm continues to operate today, now nearly 150 years old, from their large offices on West Adams Street in Chicago (inf. from Janice M. Hoski, Holabird & Root Architects, Chicago). An exhibition catalogue devoted to the work of Holabird & Root was published in the journal Chicago History, Vol. ix, No. 3, Fall 1980, pp. 130-165, illus.
(works in Canada)
HOLABIRD & ROCHE
PRINCE GEORGE, B.C., The Donaldson Hotel, and the Fort George Hotel, near Willow River, for the Grand Trunk Pacific Railway, 1913 (C.R., xxvii, 2 July 1913, 70)
HOLABIRD & ROOT
(with George F. Drummond) MONTREAL, QUE., C.N.R. Railway Terminal Project, Dorchester Boulevard West at Mansfield Street, 1944-55, a complex consisting of 10 commercial and residential blocks (Gazette [Montreal], 15 Aug. 1953, 3, illus. & descrip.; Holabird & Root Architects, Chicago, Project File No. 8702, Montreal Terminal, drawings and perspectives)
EDMONTON, ALTA., major 16 storey addition to the MacDonald Hotel, 1950-52 (Edmonton Journal, 3 May 1949, 1 and 12, illus. & descrip.; C.R., lxiii, Nov. 1950, 123)