Fonds MS-2-835 - Drew Sperry fonds

North elevation South elevation Locker system A YMCA for Halifax / H. Drew Sperry Mechanical plan Urban context Site plan First floor plan Second floor plan Third floor plan Fourth and fifth floor plans Typical residence floor, roof terrace and mechanical floor View west from Agricola Street View from median strip Section perspective at handball courts Section perspective looking north Longitudinal section West elevation East elevation Paul Rudolph's Art and Architecture Building — Yale

Title and statement of responsibility area

Title proper

Drew Sperry fonds

General material designation

  • Architectural drawing
  • Graphic material
  • Cartographic material
  • Textual record

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Fonds

Repository

Reference code

MS-2-835

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Class of material specific details area

Statement of scale (cartographic)

1" = 600'

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Scales differ

Issuing jurisdiction and denomination (philatelic)

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Physical description area

Physical description

100 architectural drawings ; 30 x 20 in. and smaller
1 map ; 30 x 20 in.
1 drawing ; 15 x 20 in.
1 cm of textual records

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Archival description area

Name of creator

Sperry, Henry Drew
(1942-2012)

Biographical history

Drew Sperry was an architect based in Dartmouth, Nova Scotia, known for his early adherence to a landscape approach to architecture, fitting the building to the land, rather than the other way around. Born in Halifax on January 4, 1942, he was educated at Le Marchant Elementary, Gorsebrook Junior and Queen Elizabeth High School before starting an engineering degree at Dalhousie University in 1960. After hearing the Dean of the new School of Architecture at the Nova Scotia Technical College speak to his second-year engineering class, Sperry decided that architecture was better suited to his creativity as well as his problem-solving skills. He enrolled in the BArch program in 1962 and graduated in 1966, having been awarded the school's first Royal Architectural Institute of Canada Gold Medal for Design.

Following graduation Sperry worked for Robert J. Flinn Design Group as well as collaborating with land planner Harold Verge, with whom he designed the Debrissy Museum in Bridgewater, Nova Scotia, and the Paper Mill Village Housing Project in Hammonds Plains, which won an award for environmental sensitivity. In 1972 he started his own company, H. Drew Sperry MRAIC, which was initially run out of the family home he'd designed and built with his wife and business partner, Sheila, on Cranston Avenue in Dartmouth. Over time the firm took on projects across the Maritimes, opening partnership offices in Prince Edward Island, New Brunswick, Cape Breton and Toronto, and developed an expertise in recreational facilities and housing as well as University land planning.

Drew Sperry died in 2012.

Custodial history

Records were donated by Sheila Sperry in 2022 (Accession 2023-006). Sperry originally offered the material to the Dartmouth Heritage Museum. The Museum acquired a few pieces of art work that relate to rowing and the Shubenacadie Canal, and offered other drawings to Dalhousie University in March 2022. The drawings were in the custody of the Museum until March 2023, when staff transferred the drawings to the University Archives.

Scope and content

Fonds contains architectural drawings created by Drew Sperry as a student at Nova Scotia Technical College and later as a certified architect. His student work comprises presentation drawings, while the designs for his own home in Dartmouth, Nova Scotia, and two other residential commissions include both presentation and construction drawings. There are two folders of textual records, which comprise a transcript of an interview with Drew and Sheila Sperry, real estate appraisals of their Dartmouth residence, and early budget breakdowns from Sperry's architectural practice.

Notes area

Physical condition

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Language of material

  • English

Script of material

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Restrictions on access

All materials are open for research.

Terms governing use, reproduction, and publication

Materials do not circulate and must be used in the Archives and Special Collections Reading Room. Materials may be under copyright. Contact departmental staff for guidance on reproduction.

Finding aids

Generated finding aid

drew-sperry-fonds.pdf

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Further accruals are not anticipated.

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