History
Founded in 1884, Wilson Architects has grown from contributing to the architectural landscape of early Brisbane to moulding contemporary architectural development across Australia and international regions.
It has survived and thrived due to the commitment and talents of its past and present people. Hamilton Wilson is the fourth generation Wilson to work within the studio and has been joined by fellow directors John Thong, Michael Hartwich, and Michael Herse.
Four Generations of Continuous Practice
A.B.Wilson
ALEXANDER BROWN WILSON (1857 - 1938)
Alex Wilson was precocious as both an architect and artist. Born in Glasgow, Scotland, he was the fifth son of George Wilson, a merchant, and his wife Margaret, née Watson. In 1864 young Wilson immigrated with his family to Brisbane where he attended the Normal School, though his secondary education remains a mystery. His artistic talent soon attracted attention. In 1873, in an Exhibition of Arts and Manufactures at Brisbane’s School of Arts, the Telegraph newspaper of 17 November noted ‘a series of carefully executed watercolour drawings, principally waterscapes by Master A.B. Wilson, who has evidently a love for the picturesque and beautiful, which with proper cultivation, bids fair to make him an accomplished artist’. Later in Brisbane’s First Intercolonial Exhibition of 1876, his St Alban’s, pen and ink, and Head of Diomedes, sepia, won certificates in the schools section.
R.M.Wilson
RONALD MARTIN WILSON (1886–1967)
Ron Wilson was born in Brisbane and, like his father, attended the Normal School. Later a pupil of the Brisbane Grammar School, he passed the Sydney Junior Public Examination in 1902 with a silver medal in Physiology. In 1903 Ron entered his father’s office, becoming his chief architectural assistant five years later. While working in the office he obtained a Certificate in Art and Design at the Brisbane Central Technical College and exhibited drawings and modelling in the National Agricultural and Industrial Association of Queensland’s annual exhibitions in Brisbane.
Blair M. Wilson
BLAIR MANSFIELD WILSON (1930 - 2014)
Like his father, was born in Brisbane and educated at the Brisbane Grammar School. In 1949 he began the recently established six-year degree course in Architecture at the University of Queensland. The final three years were offered part-time with students of the Brisbane Central Technical College diploma course. Blair’s well-known contemporaries in the combined course included Paquita Day, Robin Gibson, Jack Gilmore, Cecil Hardgraves, Ron Purssey, Ury Stukoff and Steve Trotter. In his final student years Blair worked in his father’s office and, for wider experience, with Aubrey Job of the firm Fulton, Job & Collin. His thesis on ‘The requirements for a student union building’ was written in collaboration with engineering student Gavin McDonald. It proposed an architectural and engineering design produced cooperatively, anticipating Blair’s interests in educational and collaborative projects. The thesis later provided the basis of the brief for Steve Trotter’s building at the University of Queensland in 1959. At his graduation, Blair won the Queensland Institute of Architects’ Memorial Medal.
Beth Wilson
ELIZABETH ANN (BETH) WILSON (1934 - 2019)
Born in Brisbane and daughter of the timber merchant Jules Moxon and his wife, Sybil, née Lucas, sister of the architect F. Bruce Lucas. Beth attended The Glennie School, Toowoomba before studying Science at the University of Queensland from 1952, majoring in Botany. Upon graduation in 1955, she worked as a plant pathologist at the Queensland Department of Agriculture and Stock.
In the enterprising tradition of the family and building on her botanical experience, Beth Wilson joined the inaugural course in Landscape Architecture at QUT, conducted by Malcolm Bunzli and George Williams. In 1971 she obtained a Graduate Diploma in Landscape Architecture and joined the Wilson firm. Her work has included major projects within the central business district: Cathedral Square, the Supreme Court, Great Court, redevelopment of the City Botanic Gardens (based on Robin Gibson’s master plan), planting in the Queen Street Mall and Queen’s Park, and Mincom Central Public Plaza. She published her book ‘Brisbane Houses with Gardens’ which won the prestigious Qld Book of the Year Award in 2018 Readers Choice.
Hamilton Wilson
HAMILTON BLAIR WILSON (1961 - )
Blair and Beth’s second son, Hamilton joined the firm in 1986 following his graduation. Hamilton was born in Brisbane and educated at the Brisbane Grammar Schools. In addition, he studied art with Mervyn Moriarty’s innovative Flying Art School. In 1980 Hamilton enrolled in the part-time course in Architecture at QUT while employed with the architects Lund Hutton Ryan Morton. He was also a member of the alternative arts and theatre group, the Fluba Troupe, and participated in the group’s exhibitions and performances, culminating in a tour to the Adelaide Fringe Festival. For the final two years of his architectural education, Hamilton transferred to the full-time course at the University of Queensland.
Hamilton Wilson graduated from University in 1985 with first class honours, and won the A.E. Brooks Prize, which took him to London where he worked from 1987 to 1989 as design architect with a multi-disciplinary practice, DEGW. Hamilton returned to his family firm in 1989 and was appointed Managing Director of Wilson Architects in 1995.