Geoffrey Twibill (1928–) was educated at the University of Sydney 1947-51, he worked for Bunning and Madden during the holidays and for some months after graduation, before travelling to London in 1951 on a NSW Board of Architects Byera Hadley Travelling Scholarship. Based at University College, London, he took courses in engineering and, with the Regent Street Polytechnic, business studies and property management. On his travels to Europe and Scandinavia, he spent an afternoon with Le Corbusier in Paris and worked on a German design competition for Alvar Aalto. On return to Sydney in 1954, he worked briefly for Bunning and Madden, then set up his own practice in 1955. In 1958, he joined Arthur Baldwinson in a practice named Baldwinson and Twibill; dissolved in 1959. Continuing on his own, Twibill introduced the new concept of retirement homes to Australia. His first scheme, originally sketched while at Baldwinson and Twibill, was Mowll Village, Castle Hill, developed from 1961. Another noted example was Bayview Village, developed during the early 1970s. Despite his overseas travels, he was most influenced in design by the local works of Sydney Ancher and Ken Woolley – first using Pettit and Sevitt project home builders who were familiar with Woolley’s details. He also served several years during the 1960s as the Sydney representative of Melbourne-based practice Buchan Laird and Bawden. Although Twibill did not pursue publicity or awards, the practice was commercially successful; sustaining between 20 and 40 staff at its peak. In 1996, he merged the practice with DEM Design and gradually diminished his role as director until retirement in 2001. He now lives in Roseville.
Source
—Twibill, Geoffrey. 2004. Interview recorded by Davina Jackson, October.
- Writers:
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- Date written:
- 2015
- Last updated:
- 2015
