McKenzie, Robert Alexander McKay | Biographical Dictionary of Architects in Canada

McKENZIE, Robert Alexander McKay (1888-1953) was born in Virden, Man. on 30 January 1888 and trained with the Vancouver firm of Dalton & Eveleigh from 1903 to 1908. He then joined the city of Vancouer Building Department, at first as assistant Building Inspector (1908-16) then as senior Building Inspector (1916-19), He later took a position as staff architect in North China for the New York City firm of Murphy, McGill & Hamlin from 1919 to 1925 before returning to Vancouver. His experience and practical knowledge of Chinese customs and language likely played a role in his selection as architect for the Chin Wing Chun Building in Vancouver (1925). McKenzie died in Vancouver on 5 Octobert 1953 (death notice, The Sun [Vancouver], 7 Oct. 1953, 36; D. Luxton, Building the West: The Early Architects of British Columbia, 2003, 475, 511; inf. Gordon Fulton, Ottawa)

VANCOUVER, B.C., Fire Hall No. 3, Quebec Street at 12th Avenue, 1911 (C.R., xxv, 8 Feb. 1911, 28)
VANCOUVER, B.C., Chin Wing Chun Society Building, East Pender Street, 1925 (H. Kalman, Exploring Vancouver, 1978, 55, illus.; dwgs. at Vancouver City Archives)
VANCOUVER, B.C., I.O.O.F. Hall (later the Arcadian Hotel), Main Street, 1925 (dwgs. at Vancouver City Archives)