Recognised as highly important architects in the nineteenth and the first half of the twentieth centuries, the firm, known today as Dick Peddie & McKay, has earned its place as one of the greatest architectural practices Scotland has known. The number of buildings the practice actually built is staggering, and although an Edinburgh-based firm, it is not difficult to find at least one building designed, or significantly altered by the practice, in every major town in Scotland. Surely they were not responsible for so many remarkable buildings? Indeed they were and almost all their designs are included in the 33,500 drawings (1845-1969) forming the practice collection, which was acquired by the Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Scotland with the generous help of the Heritage Lottery Fund.

The hundreds of buildings they designed include country houses, churches, banks, offices, and hotels, as well as many important public commissions, such as premises for hospitals, schools and town halls. Particular highlights include the Caledonian Hotel and Binns Department Store, Edinburgh and Morgan Academy, Dundee.

On display here is a small proportion of the original drawings, along with photographs illustrating some of the best examples from the hundreds of buildings they designed. Prints of all images can be obtained by contacting RCAHMS directly at info@rcahms.gov.uk quoting the name of the site or building, the SC number, the size and nature of each image required. A price list of services for photographs, digital images and other copies can be found under the price list page.

John Dick Peddie (1824-1891) first set up practice on his own in Edinburgh in 1845. Peddie was born into a family of well-to-do middle class professionals, whose political and religious connections were extremely important to the young architect. Having trained with the classicist David Rhind, John Dick Peddie's first independent projects were significant, including the United Presbyterian Synod Hall, Edinburgh; a submission for the Royal Arch in Dundee; and substantial proposals for terraced housing in Edinburgh, Dundee and Glasgow.

John Dick Peddie

Paper, pencil, ink wash.
Presentational elevation from east. Residential development, Gilmorehill, Glasgow. 1849.

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In 1856, Charles George Hood Kinnear (1830-1894), hailing from David Bryce's office, joined Peddie, who by this date was becoming over-subscribed with large building projects throughout Edinburgh. Born in Fife, Kinnear also came from a wealthy and influential family, whose connections in banking, accounting, law and the military served both architects well. Kinnear's strengths as a designer and draughtsman were in every way equal to Peddie's and together they formed an architectural force to be reckoned with. Peddie & Kinnear went on to produce a great number of significant buildings, including country houses, churches, banks, offices, hotels and hydropathic institutions. They also executed many important public commissions, including hospitals, schools and municipal buildings.

Peddie & Kinnear

Paper on linen, ink, pencil, colour wash.
Elevations. Kinloch House, Fife. 1859.

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Peddie & Kinnear

Paper, ink, pencil, colour wash.
Elevations. Dublin Street Baptist Church, Edinburgh. 1856.

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Peddie & Kinnear

View from south-east. Aberdeen Municipal Buildings, Aberdeen. 1863-8.

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Kinnear & Peddie

Waxed-linen, ink, colour wash.
Entrance elevation. Callander Hydropathic Institution, Perthshire. 1879.

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In the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries the firm continued to thrive, producing headquarters and branches for banks and insurance companies, as well as grand hotels, such as the Caledonian Hotel in Princes Street, Edinburgh. Active during this period were John Dick Peddie's son, John More Dick Peddie (1853-1921), and George Washington Browne (1853-1939). After 1896, when the already successful and highly regarded George Washington Browne joined J M Dick Peddie in a loose partnership, the practice was well able to maintain its super-status, working for the some of the most prominent companies and institutions in Scotland. An important, yet often less recognised presence in the firm after the departure of Browne, was James Forbes Smith, who emphasised Beaux-Arts classicism in the buildings designed before the end of the Great War.

Peddie & Washington Browne

Paper on linen, ink, colour wash.
Elevations to Lothian Road and Princes Street. Caledonian Station Hotel, Edinburgh. 1897.

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Peddie & Washington Browne

Paper on linen, ink, colour wash.
Section. North British & Mercantile Insurance Company, Princes Street, Edinburgh. 1904.

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Peddie & Washington Browne

View from south-east. Standard Life, George Street and St Andrew Square, Edinburgh. 1898.

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At the death of J M Dick Peddie in 1921, W J Walker Todd (1884-1944) took charge of the practice. Along with Todd's partners D J Chisholm (1885-1949), and Lindsay Auldjo Jamieson (c.1890-c.1960), the firm was responsible for the building of modern housing estates in East Lothian and the Borders, as well as churches and schools. The last significant change in the firm came in 1942, when John Ross McKay (1884-1961) joined the practice. McKay was incredibly industrious and provided designs for hundreds of modern houses, tenements, garages, cinemas, and up-to-date shops for large retailers, such as Binns department store in Edinburgh.

Dick Peddie & Walker Todd

Paper, mechanical copy, colour wash.
Part elevation and section of main block. Merchiston Castle School, Edinburgh. 1929.

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John Ross McKay

Paper, ink, pencil, colour wash.
Perspective elevation, view from south-west. Binns Department Store, Edinburgh. c.1934.

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