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John Harold Dalton
John Harold Dalton was born in 1927 in Leeds, England and migrated to Australia in 1950, aged 22. Working as a draftsman for the Brisbane City Council he was swayed to study architecture and enrolled at The University of Queensland. During this time he worked part-time in number of offices with renowned architects, Hayes and Scott and Theo Thynne and Associates. His notable professional career began in 1956 when winning his first open competition to design the Plywood Exhibition House. By 1959 he commenced his own practice as John Dalton Architect and Associates. According to Professor Elizabeth Musgrave, few practices can boast an output that so consistently attracted peer recognition. An extensive contributor to journals of architecture and one-time Queensland correspondent for Architecture Australia, Dalton pursued through his writing, in addition to his architecture, to promote good climatic design. One of his main catchphrases throughout his life was “Sun + Life + Useful Form = Architectural magic”. He was particularly interested in the play of light and shadow resulting from the strong Queensland light and he developed a distinctive, local style of architecture. This connection with climate and place continued to flourish throughout his career. By 1979 he had retired from active practice and sadly passed away in 2007 leaving many of his works in the Fryer Library at The University of Queensland.

Professional Career
John Dalton the architect can be summed up by a quote of his: “anyone who wishes to appreciate the architecture of Queensland in a positive and critical manner must have a key to assist them. The answer of course is climate.” He embraced the idea of a regional humanism that was directly related to the Queensland tropical climate. His most memorable houses however are throughout the 1960s. Building in the 1960s presented a number of challenges for architects. Building restrictions after the war had reduced the house to an economical core stripped of its veranda’s and excesses. Few elements of the traditional Queensland house found their way into Dalton’s architecture. In an article written in the sixties, Dalton described Queensland’s traditional houses: “as light timber-framed structures high on stumps with screening, and window hoods to small openings”. He concluded that “the past was quaint, amusing and very uncomfortable”. Dalton took note of the devices that traditional houses used for climatic control and translated these into his housing designs. He spoke specifically about roof ventilators on old Queensland buildings and said that he amalgamated these ideas with the new ethos of the time. This can be seen in a number of his designs including the Graham House and the Vice Chancellors cottage. He recognised the main problem in building design lay in control of the sun, provision of cross ventilation and the reduction of glare and heat loads. His style of building evolved from an American west coast austere brick style, similar to the Dalton House. The houses started with a simple rectangular plan and then moved to a more fitting vernacular Queensland style over time such as the Peden House in 1975 with a more fractured sloped roof. The incorporation of elements such as louvers, horizontal lattice blinds and deep veranda’s continued to trademark his expanding folio of work. Dalton once said, “the psychological comfort of verandah space is the great certainty in Australian architecture”. A lot of his buildings are characterised also by white coloured masonry walls, natural timbers and sloping roofs. Although earlier in his career he used many more neutral tones.

List of Award Winning Designs
1956- Plywood Display Home 1960- Dalton House, Fig Tree Pocket 1960- Laycock Flats, Toowong 1962- Leverington House, Kenmore 1962- Brick Manufacturers House 1964- Wilson House, Mt Coot-Tha 1966- Graham House, Indooroopilly 1972- Salter House, Fig Tree Pocket 1962- Vice Chancellor's Residence, St Lucia 1975- Peden House, Moggill