WALLBRIDGE, Jean Louise (1912-1979) was among the first women to practise architecture in western Canada. Born in Edmonton she was educated at schools in that city as well as at private school in Switzerland. In 1935 she obtained a position as assistant in the Edmonton office of Rule, Wynn & Rule; that same year she enrolled in courses at the School of Architecture at the University of Alberta where she graduated in 1939 (Edmonton Bulletin, 13 May 1939, 12, with photographic portrait; inf. Robert Hamilton, of Hamilton, Ont.). While working in Peter Rule's office she met another student, Mary L. Imrie (1918-1988), with whom she was to later form an architectural partnership in 1950.
Wallbridge had a particular interest in the study of town planning, and after leaving Edmonton in 1940 she was employed by the Town Planning Commission in Saint John, N.B. before returning to her home town in 1946. Both Wallbridge and Imrie assisted in the drafting room at the City Architects Department, which was then under the supervision of the City Architect Max Dewar. When that department closed in 1950 they decided to open their own office and were successful at sustaining a professional architectural practice, completing a variety of residential and commercial commissions for private clients and for the Alberta Housing Corporation. Their firm was active until after 1970. Wallbridge died in Edmonton on 30 September 1979 (obituary Edmonton Journal, 5 Oct. 1979, p. C4; biog. and port in Canadian Architect, xxxviii, Nov. 1993, 22-3; E. Dominey, 'Wallbridge & Imrie: The Architectural Practise of Two Edmonton Women', in Society for the Study of Architecture in Canada Bulletin, xvii, March 1992, 12-18, illus.).
The Provincial Archives of Alberta in Edmonton holds a major collection of drawings and manuscript material by the firm (PAA, Acc. 88.290). A recent article on the European study tours of Wallbridge & Imrie, prepared by Ipek Mehmetoglu and entitled "Les Girls En Voyage - Gender and Architecture in the Travels of Mary Imrie and Jean Wallbridge" has been published in the Journal of the Society for the Study of Architecture in Canada, xliv, Nov. 2019, 7-20, illus.
WALLBRIDGE & IMRIE (works in Edmonton unless noted)
EDMONTON, ALTA., a row of three low-rise apartment blocks for Dr. Charles Dixon, 109 Avenue, west of 110 Street, 1950-51 (Edmonton Journal, 13 Sept. 1950, 17)
EDMONTON, ALTA., North Glenora Patio Homes, an 8 suite apartment block, 135 Street at 109 Avenue, 1953 (Edmonton Journal, 24 March 1953, 7; Capital Modern - Guide to Edmonton Architecture & Urban Design 1940-1969, 2007, 95-96, illus. & descrip.)
EDMONTON, ALTA., residence for J.A. Russell, 1953 (R.A.I.C. Journal, xxx, Feb. 1953, 42-3, illus. & descrip.)
EDMONTON, ALTA., an 8 suite apartment block for Aldritt Const., 82nd Avenue near 87 Street, 1953-54 (Edmonton Journal, 12 Aug. 1953, 17, descrip.)
EDMONTON, ALTA., a 3 storey apartment block with 16 units, overlooking the Saskatchewan River, 1956 (Canadian Architect, i, Dec. 1956, 41-45, illus. & descrip.)
EDMONTON, ALTA., Princess Elizabeth Apartments, a group of 20 residential row-housing blocks with 96 units, Princess Elizabeth Avenue near 102 Street, 1955-57 (Canadian Architect, ii, Feb. 1957, 31-32, illus. & descrip.; Capital Modern - Guide to Edmonton Architecture & Urban Design 1940-1969, 2007, 137-38, illus. & descrip.)
EDMONTON, ALTA., office & residence for Wallbridge & Emrie, architects, 1959 (R.A.I.C. Journal, xxxvi, Feb. 1959, 41, illus. & descrip.)