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Jack Denyer Cheesman (2/1/1905-8/7/1994) will be remembered as a leader in the trend to modernism in South Australia and for his role in the professionalisation of architecture in the 1930s and 1940s.Cheesman studied architecture at the South Australian School of Mines and Industries and School of Arts from 1923 to 1926, concurrently working for the Architect-in-Chief's Department under George Gavin Lawson, an important influence on the younger generation of architects. After working for two years at McMichael and Harris in Adelaide he furthered his architectural studies in New York while working in the large practice of York and Sawyer. In 1931, following six months' study and sketching in Europe, he returned to Adelaide, becoming a partner in Gavin Lawson and Cheesman in January 1932. During World War Two he designed war-related buildings in Adelaide and Darwin.
In 1946 Maurice Doley joined Lawson and Cheesman and the new firm of Lawson, Cheesman and Doley undertook both architectural and engineering commissions. Lawson retired in 1952 and in 1954 Keith Neighbour joined the firm, it becoming Lawson, Cheesman, Doley and Partners when he and three of the senior architects, R.A. Brabham, A.L. Brownell and Newell J. Platten, became partners. The firm grew and mutated, with new architects replacing those who retired or died, and by 1973 it employed over 100 people in offices in Adelaide and Sydney; it was the largest architectural firm in South Australia and the third largest in Australia.
Commercial buildings that Cheesman's firm designed include Holden's administration building at Woodville (1926) and the Ridley Memorial Entrance, Wayville Showgrounds. During the 1930s the firm designed Greater Union cinemas in Perth, Sydney and Townsville. In association with Bates Smart McCutcheon, Cheesman supervised the construction of the MLC Building, Victoria Square, Adelaide. Other commercial buildings in the Adelaide CBD overseen by the firm included BP House, the Guardian Insurance Building and the IMFC Building. Suburban residential projects included a block of flats at Millswood and a two-storey dwelling at Cumberland Park displaying the modern style. He designed buildings at Flinders University and the University of Adelaide, the last being the Law School at the University of Adelaide (1967). He also designed two churches of distinction, St Saviours Church of England at Glen Osmond and Colonel Light Gardens Church of England (1958).
Cheesman was an active member of Institutes of Architects. After joining the South Australian Institute of Architects as an Associate in 1926, he was a member of Council from 1932 to 1952 (Treasurer, 1932; Honorary Secretary, 1937-40; President, 1945-47). When the state-based institutes federated to form the Royal Australian Institute of Architects (RAIA), he was a Federal Councillor (1946-52) and Federal President (1948-50). In 1950 he was made a Fellow of the Royal Institute of British Architects and in 1968 was awarded a Life Fellowship of the RAIA. He was a Life Fellow of the Royal Australian Planning Institute and in 1970 was made an Affiliate of the Australian Institute of Building.
His influence on the profession was extensive, his initiatives including the Small Homes Service of South Australia, which provided architecturally designed houses to the public for a nominal fee; the South Australian Architects' Act, which instituted the registration of Architects from 1939 (with Hubert H. Cowell); and the Town Planning Institute (with Dean Berry). He also served on both Commonwealth and State government advisory committees, including the Canberra Siting Review Committee, the SA Town Planning Committee and the SA Planning Appeal Board.
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- Local : research.unisa.edu.au/person/278735