John James Joass (1868 – 10 May 1952) was a Scottish

architect An architect is a person who plans, designs and oversees the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to provide services in connection with the design of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the buildings that h ...

, born in

Dingwall Dingwall ( sco, Dingwal, gd, Inbhir Pheofharain ) is a town and a royal burgh in the Highland council area of Scotland. It has a population of 5,491. It was an east-coast harbour that now lies inland. Dingwall Castle was once the biggest cas ...

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a Anglo-Scottish border, border with England to the southeast ...

. His father William Cumming Joass was an established architect in that town. The son was given basic training with his father, and then in 1885 articled with John Burnet & Son in

Glasgow Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popul ...

, Scotland. In 1890 he moved to the firm of

Robert Rowand Anderson Sir Robert Rowand Anderson, (5 April 1834 – 1 June 1921) was a Scottish Victorian architect. Anderson trained in the office of George Gilbert Scott in London before setting up his own practice in Edinburgh in 1860. During the 1860s his ...

, and then in 1893 to

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

. After a number of positions he joined John Belcher's practice in 1896. He became a partner in 1905, and continued the practice after the death of Belcher in 1913. In 1905, the partnership was working on the remodeling of a country house in Tapeley Park, in the village of

Instow Instow is a village in north Devon, England. It is on the estuary where the rivers Taw and Torridge meet, between the villages of Westleigh and Yelland and on the opposite bank to Appledore. There is an electoral ward with the same name. Th ...

Devon Devon ( , historically known as Devonshire , ) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South West England. The most populous settlement in Devon is the city of Plymouth, followed by Devon's county town, the city of Exeter. Devo ...

. This had started in 1898 and continued until 1916, so was presumably completed by Joass after his partner's death. The partnership undertook the Royal Insurance office in Piccadilly, London in 1907–09. Joass was also joint architect of

Whiteleys Whiteleys was a shopping centre in Bayswater, London. It was built in the retail space of the former William Whiteley Limited department store, which opened in 1911 as one of London's first department stores, and was one of the main department ...

department store, which opened in 1911, and the re-building of the Swan and Edgar department store, after 1920. In 1926 Joass was commissioned to provide an extension to Chartered Accountants Hall, which had originally been designed by Belcher and constructed in the 1890s. Joass' extension provided an additional 5,000 square feet for meeting rooms and offices; the final cost of the extension came to £35,976 9s. 6d. He retired to Poole, Dorset sometime after 1930. He was an avid sailor of small sailing craft.

Family

His paternal uncle was the antiquarian and geologist Rev James Maxwell Joass, minister of

Golspie Golspie ( , gd, Goillspidh) is a village and parish in Sutherland, Highland, Scotland, which lies on the North Sea coast in the shadow of Ben Bhraggie. It has a population of around 1,350. History The name derives from the Norse for "gull ...

References

External links

Biographical Entry in the Dictionary of Scottish Architects

Biography on Answers.com
19th-century Scottish architects 1868 births 1952 deaths People from Dingwall 20th-century Scottish architects {{UK-architect-stub