Thomas S. Tait

Thomas Smith Tait (1882 – 1954) was a prominent Scottish architect.

Born in Paisley, he was educated at the John Neilson Institution, following which he entered apprenticeship as an architect with James Donald in Paisley. Tait went on to Glasgow School of Art where he studied under the Beaux Arts teacher Eugene Bourdon. He travelled extensively in Europe between 1904 and 1905, before settling in London where he joined the prestigious architectural practice of Sir John James Burnet. By 1910, Tait was a leading member of Burnet's staff, and played an important part in the design of the Kodak Building in London, considered to be among the first examples of modern architecture in the United Kingdom.

In 1919, Tait became a partner in the practice, establishing Burnet, Tait and Lorne at the forefront of British Modernism. His designs include: Adelaide House on the Thames, the Daily Telegraph office in London, St Andrew's House in Edinburgh and the pylons for Sydney Harbour Bridge. Tait won the competition to design Paisley's Hawkhead Hospital in 1932 and was the assessor for the Bexhill Pavilion and Kirkcaldy Town Hall competitions. In 1922 he was also responsible for the design of the Great Western Railway War Memorial in Paddington Station, London [cite web
url=http://viewfinder.english-heritage.org.uk/search/reference.asp?index=121&imageUID=17317&main_query=paddington%20station
title=War memorial, Paddington Station
author=English Heritage
accessdate=2007-11-05] , and the (now destroyed) Port Tewfik War Memorial near Suez, Egyptcite web
url=http://www.codexgeo.co.uk/dsa/building_full.php?id=M026460
title=Port Tewfik War Memorial
author=
work=Dictionary of Scottish Architects
accessdate=2007-10-31] .

He designed Chelsea House, built 1934, on Lowndes Street, Knightsbridgecite web
url=http://www.middlesexpast.net/csett3.html
title=Parish of Chelsea - Settlement and Building in the Twentieth Century
work=Victoria County History
accessdate=2007-10-31]

He is perhaps best remembered for his contributions to the design and master planning for the Empire Exhibition, Scotland 1938, held in Bellahouston Park. Tait was appointed as head of a team of nine architects, which included Basil Spence and Jack Coia. Tait's vision was of a modernist, utopian future, and the Empire Exhibition was the largest collection of modern architecture built in United Kingdom in the first half of the 20th century. Dominating the whole exhibition was "The Tower of Empire", designed by Tait himself. The 300-feet-high tower was erected on the summit of the hill in the centre of the park and had three observation balconies, each capable of carrying 200 people.

Thomas Tait died in 1954.

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