NEW ZEALAND WOMAN ARCHITECT.

Auckland Star, Volume LVIII, Issue 292, 10 December 1927, Page 20

NEW ZEALAND WOMAN ARCHITECT.

MISS ALISON SLEIGH, A.E.1.8.A. In the last list of students who have passed the examination qualifying for the degree of Associate of the Royal Institute of British Architects is the name of Miss Alison Sleigh, of Christchurch, New Zealand. Her London address is given in the journal so that it would not, except by her personal friends, be realised that she is a New Zealander, and it would certainly not be known that she is the first lady student from New Zealand to gain this distinction. Born in Christchurch, at an early age she entered the School of Art, where her ability as an art student was eoon recognised. In 1917 she entered the office of Mr. S. Hurst Seager, F.R.1.8.A., as an articled pupil, and during Mr. Seager's visit to Europe she was transferred to the office of Mr. Cecil Wood, A.R.1.8.A., where she completed her articles and, remained as assistant for about twelve months.*

During this time she continued her studies at the School of Art and I attended the architectural lectures and the classes arranged for architectural students at the School of Engineering. In all branches she took a leading place among her male competitors. She afterwards left New Zealand to continue her studies at the Architectural Association in London. She intended staying for two years, but at ,the end of that time she had shown such very marked ability that the principal at that time, Mr. Robert Atkinson, wrote to her father asking that she might be allowed to stay to complete the full course and gain the associateship. She competed for and won several competitions, the most important perhaps being placed second, for the Tite prize in 1925. This prize is awarded for a purely practical subject, with full details of construction, so that for a woman to be placed second in thia competition was indeed a very high honour. During these years Miss Sleigh entered the office of the present principal, Mr. Robertson, of Messrs. Easton

and Robertson, and was also engaged on important drawings for many of the principal architectural firms in "London. She has travelled largely, having visited most of the cities of England and Scotland, and has travelled also on the Continent for the purpose of sketching and studying. Miss Sleigh is returning to New Zea"land and will probably enter into practice in her home town.