Robin Dods

Robert Smith (Robin) Dods (9 June 1868 – 23 July 1920) was a New Zealand-born Australian architect. Over the course of his career, he worked for Hay & Henderson in Edinburgh and Aston Webb in London, later becoming a partner in Hall & Dods (Brisbane) and Spain, Cosh & Dods (Sydney).

Early life and education Robert Smith Dods, known as Robin, was born in Dunedin, New Zealand on 9 June 1868. His parents were Robert Smith Dods (a wholesale grocer) and Elizabeth Gray, née Stodart. His parents both came from Edinburgh, Scotland. However, the family did not stay long in New Zealand and returned to Edinburgh in the early 1870s, where his father died in 1876. His mother Elizabeth then immigrated to Brisbane. On the voyage she met Charles Ferdinard Marks, a physician, whom she married in Brisbane in 1879.

Dods was the brother of solicitor Stodart Dods and Queensland Medical Officer Espie Dods. He had three half-brothers and a half-sister from his mother's second marriage to Charles Marks. They included Alexander Marks and Edward Marks.

Dods was educated at Brisbane Grammar School.

Dods visited the Continent in 1891 for a study tour of Italy. It was in Naples that he met Charles Rennie Mackintosh, who was also travelling to fulfil the terms of the Alexander Thomson Scholarship which he had won the previous year. Macintosh was destined to be recognised as one of the pioneers of the Modern Movement, and this meeting could have influenced Dods' architectural outlook.

Robin Dods died on 23 July 1920, and was buried in the South Head Cemetery. At the age of 52, a busy and useful life was thus cut short, and a distinguished architect passed on, to leave in Queensland a legacy of outstanding achievement in the development of its architecture.

Practice in Sydney Although he had been so busy and successful in Brisbane, Dods felt that his architectural future in this city was limited.

His ambition made him anxious to break into the larger commercial work offering in the south. In 1913 he terminated his partnership with Francis Hall and went to Sydney to join the firm of Spain & Cosh. The firm became Spain, Cosh & Dods from 1914 until 1920.

Little is now known of Dods' architectural activity in Sydney. He built for himself a house at Edgecliff, described by a contemporary as "charming in its quiet Georgian character, well planned, and forming an attractive setting for the antique furniture he had collected for many years." The Newcastle Club, from the offices of Spain and Cosh, is certainly Dods' work, as it exhibits many features characteristic of his Queensland domestic architecture. The largest known work in Sydney that was substantially of Dods' design was the South British Insurance Co. Ltd. building, at the corner of O'Connell and Hunter Streets.

Domestic work "A modern house is like matrimony in this, that it is most frequently assailed by those who have failed to attain it for themselves."

Commercial work As with his domestic work, Dods' commercial architecture is easily recognised. Again wherever possible he attempted to design for the climate, and his best work shows spacious planning and good ventilation. Soaring real estate values have made much of his planning now seem wasteful, but in any evaluation of his work it must be remembered that he worked in a comparatively small city whose commercial expansion has exceeded even the dreams of the then most visionary businessmen.

Even in Brisbane, commercial buildings have a transitory life, so that of the many buildings designed by the architect a number of them have been demolished, added to, or altered out of all recognition. By and large, Dods' commercial work was not inspiring, but several of his buildings were significant, advanced for their time, and well worthy of further study.

Personal life and death Dods was the father of eminent physician Lorimer Dods.

He died at Edgecliff, Sydney on 23 July 1920. 4BC House 30–38 Wharf St, Brisbane City, Queensland (destroyed) Albury Civic Fire Station, 565 Kiewa Street, Albury, New South Wales Mardoc Building, Federal Street, Narrogin, Western Australia Mark Foys Warehouse (Former), 133 Goulburn Street, Surry Hills, New South Wales Maryborough City Hall, 388 Kent Street, Maryborough, Queensland Mater Misericordiae Private and Former Public Hospitals, Raymond Terrace, South Brisbane, Queensland Mount Carmel Convent, 199 Bay Terrace, Wynnum, Queensland Mudgee Post Office, 80 Market Street, Mudgee, New South Wales Myendetta Homestead Myendetta Station, Bakers Bend, Shire of Murweh, Queensland Ringsfield House, Nanango, Queensland Nindooinbah Homestead (1906 extensions), Nindooinbah House Road, Beaudesert, Queensland Old Bishopsbourne, 233 Milton Road, Milton, Queensland Old Bishopsbourne Chapel, 233 Milton Road, Milton, Queensland Ralahyne (1904 alterations), 40 Enderley Road, Clayfield, Queensland Rangemoor Circa 1910, 165 Adelaide Street East Clayfield, Queensland Narallan, Abbott Street, 41 Abbott Street, New Farm, Queensland Ruddle's Building, 327 Brunswick Street Mall, Fortitude Valley, Queensland Shafston House, 23 Castlebar St, Kangaroo Point, Queensland St Andrew's Anglican Church, Mangerton St, Toogoolawah, Queensland St Brigid's Church, 78 Musgrave Road, Red Hill, Queensland St Mark's Anglican Church, Junner Street, Dunwich, Queensland St John's Cathedral, 401–413 Ann Street, Brisbane TC Beirne Department Store, 28 Duncan Street, Fortitude Valley, Queensland The Deanery (1909–10 verandahs), 417 Ann Street, Brisbane The Newcastle Club, 40 Newcomen Street, Newcastle, New South Wales Theosophical Society Building, 355 Wickham Terrace, Spring Hill, Queensland Turrawan, 8 London Road, Clayfield, Queensland Wairuna, 27 Hampstead Road, Highgate Hill, Queensland Wattlebrae Hospital Group (former), 30 Bowen Bridge Road, Herston, Queensland Webber House, 417–19 Ann Street, Brisbane Willoughby Fire Station 53 Laurel Street, Willoughby, New South Wales He designed the school badge for Somerville House, a Brisbane private school in 1902.

Styles He built in the following architectural styles: Federation Gothic, Arts and Crafts and Bungalow Inter-War Georgian Revival

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