Sir Arthur George Stephenson (1890–1967), was an Australian architect. Stephensen was born in 1890 at Box Hill,

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Queen Victoria (1819–1901), Queen of the United Kingdom and Empress of India * Victoria (state), a state of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, Canada, a provincial capital * Victoria, Seychelles, the capi ...

, Australia. In 1907 Stephenson worked for Swansson Brothers while studying construction at the

Working Men's College The Working Men's College (also known as the St Pancras Working Men's College, WMC, The Camden College or WM College), is among the earliest adult education institutions established in the United Kingdom, and Europe's oldest extant centre for adu ...

. During

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

, he joined the Australian Imperial Force in 1915 as a lieutenant, promoted to captain and awarded the

Military Cross The Military Cross (MC) is the third-level (second-level until 1993) military decoration awarded to officers and (since 1993) Other ranks (UK), other ranks of the British Armed Forces, and formerly awarded to officers of other Commonwealth of ...

. After the war, Stephenson remained in London and studied at the Architectural Association School (AA) and joined the

Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) The Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) is a professional body for architects primarily in the United Kingdom, but also internationally, founded for the advancement of architecture under its royal charter granted in 1837, three suppl ...

in 1920. He returned to

Melbourne Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...

and established Stephenson & Meldrum in 1921. Stephenson was largely responsible for Stephenson & Meldrum's direction to specialise in hospital and industrial architecture. He also lectured, wrote widely and was a member of numerous committees, including the International Hospitals Federation, the Hospital Advisory Council (Melbourne) and a trustee of the

National Museum of Victoria National may refer to: Common uses * Nation or country ** Nationality – a ''national'' is a person who is subject to a nation, regardless of whether the person has full rights as a citizen Places in the United States * National, Maryland, ...

.Philip Goad and others: Australian Modern: The Architecture of Stephenson and Turner, The Miegunyah Press and the State Library of Victoria, 2004. In 1954 Stephenson was knighted for services to architecture and was the first Australian to receive a RIBA Gold Medal in 1964. The Royal Australian Institute of Architects (RAIA) awarded him a

gold medal A gold medal is a medal awarded for highest achievement in a non-military field. Its name derives from the use of at least a fraction of gold in form of plating or alloying in its manufacture. Since the eighteenth century, gold medals have b ...

in 1963 and was made honorary fellow by

The American Institute of Architects The American Institute of Architects (AIA) is a professional organization for architects in the United States. It is headquartered in Washington, D.C. AIA offers education, government advocacy, community redevelopment, and public outreach progr ...

in 1964.

References

Architects from Melbourne 1890 births 1967 deaths 20th-century Australian architects People from Box Hill, Victoria Australian recipients of the Military Cross Australian military personnel of World War I Military personnel from Melbourne Fellows of the Royal Institute of British Architects Australian Knights Bachelor Fellows of the American Institute of Architects Alumni of the Architectural Association School of Architecture {{australia-architect-stub