Allen served in the RAF during the Second World War and was accepted to begin studying law at the University of Sydney in 1945, but rapidly transferred to architecture at Sydney Technical College. During his part-time studies, he worked for Fowell Mansfield and Maclurcan, then Rudder Littlemore and Rudder, before his graduation and registration in 1950. In 1951, he established his own practice, then went into a brief partnership with Gordon G King in 1952 (King gave up architecture to become a stockbroker). In 1956, he formed a new partnership with Russell Jack, who had been a fellow student at the STC. Allen’s projects included the Wolfe Electric Tools factory at Homebush (1957), numerous industrial structures for Qantas, and more than 25 branch premises for the Bank of New South Wales. In 1965, he and Jack took on a new partner, Keith Cottier, and in 1976, when Russell Jack retired, three more (unnamed) partners were taken on: Peter Stronach, Glynn Evans and Reg Smith. In 1993, Allen retired as a director of Allen Jack + Cottier (after retiring as a partner in 1986) to grow figs on a rural property.
Sources
—Howells, Trevor. 2003. Allen Jack + Cottier: 1952-2002. Sydney: Allen Jack + Cottier and Focus Publishing.
—NSW Architects Registration Board database, accessed December 2004 (this gives his birthdate as 1 Jan 1927 however, the database sometimes lists one year after the actual birthdate).
- Writers:
-
- Date written:
- 2015
- Last updated:
- 2015
