John A. Pearson

John Andrew Pearson (June 22, 1867 – June 11, 1940) was an early 20th-century Canadian architect and partner to the Toronto-based firm of Pearson and Darling.

Early life and education

Pearson was born in Chesterfield, UK, and emigrated to Canada in 1888 as a young man.

Career

Pearson worked for Henry Sproatt beginning in 1890, and joined Darling, Curry, Sproatt, & Pearson in 1892, with fellow partners Frank Darling and S. George Curry. Curry departed, and from 1893 through 1896 that office was known as Darling, Sproatt & Pearson.

In 1896 Sproatt left the partnership, and the firm was renamed Pearson and Darling. This partnership lasted from 1897 through Pearson's death in 1940.

Pearson was the first Vice-President of Ontario Association of Architects (1902).

Pearson's most significant project apart from this partnership is undoubtedly the Centre Block on Parliament Hill in Ottawa, a complex that contains the Canadian House of Commons and Senate of Canada, and the adjoining Peace Tower.

The previous Centre Block burned in 1916, entirely destroyed except for the Library of Parliament. By 1920 the Centre Block was rebuilt with a design by Pearson and collaborator Jean Omer Marchand of Montreal. The Peace Tower commemorating the end of the First World War was completed in 1927.

In 1928 Pearson was commissioned to design a building to house the head office of the Canadian Bank of Commerce in Toronto. The 34-story building was completed in 1931 in spite of the onset of the Great Depression, and at the time was the tallest building in the British Empire.

Death

Pearson died in Toronto in 1940, aged 72. He is buried at Mount Pleasant Cemetery.

Works