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Male, US, born 1914-11-18, died 1995-05-22
Associated with the firms network
Bittman, Henry W., Architect and Engineer; Chiarelli and Kirk, Architects; Kirk, Paul Hayden, AIA; Kirk, Paul Hayden, FAIA and Associates; Kirk, Wallace, McKinley AIA and Associates, Architects; Naramore and Young, Architect and Engineer; Stuart and Durham, Architects; Stuart, Kirk and Durham, Associated Architects
Résumé
Draftsman/Designer, Naramore and Young, Seattle, WA, 1939.
Draftsman/Designer, Dudley Smart, Architect, Seattle, WA, 1939; (Kirk indicated in 1955 that he had started his solo career in 1939; this first office was located in Kirkland, WA.)
Designer, Henry W. Bittman, Architect, Seattle, WA, 1940-1941.
Partner, Stuart, Kirk and Durham, Seattle, WA, 1943-1945.
Partner, Chiarelli and Kirk, Architects, Seattle, WA, 1944 or 1945-1950.
Principal, Paul Hayden Kirk, AIA, Seattle, WA, 1950-1957.
Principal, Paul Hayden Kirk, FAIA, and Associates, 1958-1960.
Partner, Kirk, Wallace, McKinley and Associates, Seattle, WA, 1960-1978. Kirk retired from practice in 1978, remaining at the successor firm, The McKinley Architects, as a "consulting architect." Regional influences strongly affected his work as did Japanese architecture; in 1947, Kirk was quoted in Progressive Architecture magazine saying: "We are both [he and his partner Chiarelli] interested in using the local building materials in their most simple and straightforward manner." (See "This Month," Progressive Architecture, 28:7, 07/1947, p. 18.)
Professional Service
Completed 15-week course, Camouflage School, Camouflage Division, Office of Civilian Defense, University of Washington, 10-12/1942.
Delegate, Pan-American Congress of Architects, Mexico.
Member, King County Cattleman's Association, Board of Directors, 1952-1955.
Member, Pinel Foundation (Mental Hospital), Board of Directors, 1954-1957.
Member, American Institute of Architects (AIA), 1940-1995.
Treasurer, AIA, Washington State Chapter, 1947.
Member, AIA, Washington State Chapter, Board of Directors, 1951-1953.
Chairman of the Committee on Professional Practice, AIA, Washington State Chapter, 1949-1950.
Chairman of the Committee on Public Relations, AIA, Washington State Chapter, 1951.
When surveyed in 1955, Kirk indicated that he was a Registered Architect in WA.
Under the general supervision of William M. Caudill, Professor of Architecture at Rice University, Paul Hayden Kirk and 9 other architects (including the Los Angeles architect, Gin Wong) mentored 40 college architecture students in 1962 during the process of designing an ideal junior college plan. (See Rice's Experiment," Architectural Forum, 07/1962, p. 13.)
Member, Seattle Planning and Redevelopment Council, Pioneer Square Advisory Committee, Seattle, WA, 1966.
Member, Washington State, Factory Built Housing Advisory Board 1972-1976. (See Oaths of Office, 1854-2018 - Paul - H - Kirk, Office of the Secretary of State, Washington State Archives, Digital Archives, http://digitalarchives.wa.gov, 09/03/2019.)
Professional Awards
Gold Medal, VIII Pan-American Congress of Architects (1948), for Crown Hill Medical Clinic (Chiarelli and Kirk); Progressive Architecture Merit Award for Bellevue Medical Center, Bellevue, WA, 1954.
Kirk won six Washington State Chapter of the American Institute of Architects (AIA) Honor Awards for three clinics and three houses, 1951-1954.
Recipient, House & Garden magazine Architectural Awards competion, four of five awards, 1957. A note in Progressive Architecture, 01/1958, said of Kirk's near sweep of awards: "House & Garden's 1957 Architectural Awards competition winners have been announced. Two classifications of competition were: houses with areas under 1800 sq. ft., those with unlimited areas. Four of five cash prizes were won by Paul Hayden Kirk, Seattle, Wash., for entries in both categories; fifth prize, for house under 1800 sq. ft. was awarded to Whitney Smith and Wayne Williams, Los Angeles, Calif. Jury members included Pietro Belluschi, Dean School of Architecture and Planning, MIT; William Wurster, Dean, School of Architecture, University of California; Minoru Yamasaki, Detroit, Mich.; Arthur H. Keyes, Jr., Washington, D.C.; Carl Koch, Cambridge, Mass." (See "P/A News Bulletins, Progressive Architecture, vol. 39, no. 1, 01/1958, p. 75.)
Fellow, American Institute of Architects (FAIA), 1958, (although Seattle AIA records indicate he was made a Fellow in 1959).
Recipient, AIA, Seattle Chapter, Seattle Medal, 1984; Kirk was awarded the first AIA Seattle Medal (along with Paul Thiry) in 1984.
Archives
The majority of Kirk's papers are archived at the University of Washington Libraries, Special Collection Division. (See: "Preliminary Guide to the Paul Hayden Kirk Papers 1958-1967,"
College
B.Arch., University of Washington (UW), Seattle, WA, 1937.
College Awards
Elected to Tau Sigma Delta, Honorary Architecture Fraternity, 1935; elected to Alpha Rho Chi, National Honorary Fraternity, 1936; Kirk was elected Massierin the Atelier, the architecture student organization at the UW, for the year 1937.
Relocation
Born in Salt Lake City, UT, the Kirk Family lived at 644 Conway Court, Ward 1 of Salt Lake City in 1920; at that time, his immediate family lived with Vine Kirk's family, including her father, mother, May L. Blair (perhaps Vine's sister born c. 1888), and Bernice L. Blair (born c. 1904). Paul Hayden Kirk came to Seattle, WA, as a boy in 1922. The Kirk Family lived at 6327 21st Avenue NE, in a house they owned, valued at $7,000. Kirk reported an address of 4710 22nd Avenue NE in 1937; as newlyweds in 1939, Paul and Helen Kirk resided at 5703 18th Avenue NE, and continued to reside there in 1940 as per the US Census of that year. They paid $37 per month in rent.
The Kirks lived at 6216 Ravenna Avenue, Seattle in 1942.
He last resided in Kirkland, WA.
Parents and Family
His father, Spencer B. Kirk, listed "interior decorator" as his profession on a draft registration card of 06/05/1917 or 1918 and the U.S. Census of 1920; in c. 1917, he worked at the Walker Dry Goods Company, Main Street, Salt Lake City, UT. Spencer Kirk was born in Tooele, UT, southwest of Salt Lake City, (b. 10/27/1887), while both of his parents came from England.
His paternal grandparents, James (born 03/1845) and Mary Kirk (born 04/1851), lived in Toole, UT, in 1900. His grandfather, employed in 1900 as a "freighter," came from England to the U.S. in 1862, his grandmother in 1868.
Paul Hayden Kirk's mother, Vine H. (Blair) Kirk, was born c. 1886 in MI. Vine Kirk's father, Joseph Blair, (born c. 1864) came from French Canada, and her mother, Clara Blair (born c. 1866) from MI. Paul Hayden Kirk had three siblings, a brother, Blair, born c. 1913 in UT, who became a building contractor, and two sisters, Virginia L. Kirk (born c. 1917 in UT and presumably deceased before 1930) and Marjorie M. Kirk, born c. 1922 in UT.
Spouse
Kirk married Helen Catherine Richardson at 9:00 AM, Thursday, 02/23/1939, in the Thomsen Memorial Chapel, Saint Mark's Episcopal Cathedral, Seattle, WA. His brother, Blair Kirk, served as the best man. They honeymooned at Harrison Hot Springs and Vancouver Island. (See "Miss Richardson Becomes Bride of Mr. Paul Kirk," Seattle Times, 02/23/1939, p. 15.)
Their marriage license was obtained on 02/16/1939. (See King County Marriage Records, 1855-Present - Paul H Kirk - Helen Catherine Richardson, King County Marriage Records, 1855-Present, Washington State Archives, Digital Archives, http://digitalarchives.wa.gov, accessed 09/03/2019.)
Children
In a 1955 biographical profile, he reported having had two children, one of whom was a son, Christopher Paul Kirk, the other was a daughter, Hannah Kirk.
Personal Notes
Paul Hayden Kirk was was stricken with polio as a youngster, affecting the use of his right arm and forcing him to use crutches throughout his life.
The 1930 U.S. Census indicated that both Spencer B. Kirk and Vine Kirk worked as interior decorators for a dry goods store. Paul's brother, Blair Kirk, aged 17, was listed as a "Assistant I.D." at a dry goods store. Paul Hayden Kirk, aged 15, was listed as an "Agent (dist.)" for the Curtis (?) Publishing Company. (Curtis was a powerful publishing house in the early 20th century, producing the magazines, Ladies' Home Journaland the Saturday Evening Post, among others.) The family was immersed in interior design, and it is no wonder that Paul Hayden would develop an interest in architecture.
In the 1950s, Kirk became well-known for his designs of medical clinics in and around the Seattle area. He co-wrote (with Eugene D. Sternberg) the book, Doctors' Offices and Clinics, Medical and Dental, (New York, NY: Reinhold Publishing Company, 1955). SSN: 536-01-1523.
By the mid-1980s, Kirk's physical condition had worsened, forcing him to use a wheelchair.
PCAD id: 1642
