RIBA Bookshops

Frank W. Macey

Frank William Macey (1863-1935) practised as an architect in the City of London before emigrating to Canada. He was the first resident architect in Burnaby in British Columbia, where he settled in the first decade of the twentieth century, and obtained a number of commissions from prominent businessmen who were building grand homes in the new community of Deer Lake. He designed predominantly in the British Arts and Crafts style and introduced the use of rough-cast stucco for building exteriors, a characteristic for which he was renowned. He also designed three churches, two of which are still standing.

Prof. Peter Swallow DipSurv DipArchCons FRICS FBEng FRSA IHBC FHEA, Journal of Architectural Conservation

When asked to write a review for this book I was immediately transported back 40 years to the week when Neil Armstrong was making his giant step for mankind and I was taking a small step forward in my professional training by writing my first specification. As I began to write the specification I soon became aware of large gaps in my knowledge, and with all my senior colleagues away on annual leave, I searched the office shelves in desperation for suitable reference material to guide me. In this search I came upon a somewhat foxed 1955 copy of Macey’s 'Specification in Detail'. What a find - here was a text packed with fascinating practical information and construction detail that, notwithstanding its publication date, was clearly based on early twentieth century practice. Reluctantly I set it aside for the rather more prosaic but more relevant 1968 edition Specification and soldiered on with my specification. Despite having some three years site and drawing office experience my learning curve was steep, and it would be quite some time before I could consider myself a competent specification writer. On returning from leave the senior surveyor was reasonably satisfied with my draft specification but was dismissive of the outdated Macey’s on my desk and ordered me to dispose of it. In this way Macey’s became the first in my collection of old construction texts and on many occasions over the following years it provided me with just the information I needed to repair and adapt early twentieth century country houses, their stables and outbuildings. To produce a clear specification that amplifies the information shown on the project drawings and sets appropriate standards of quality the writer must have a very thorough knowledge of what to specify.

For inexperienced architects and surveyors specifying work to a building dating from the period 1890-1925 finding relevant guidance can be quite a challenge. Whilst construction texts of the period can be referred to, much of the practical and technical information needed to inform repair and alteration work would have been contained in original specifications, now probably lost. For this reason this reprint of Macey’s, which undoubtedly influenced Edwardian specification writers and reflected accepted good building practice of its time, is a very welcome addition to the reference material currently available. The decision to reprint the 1904 edition is a good one as it benefited from revisions made in response to criticisms of the first edition of 1898, and was written before British Standards, which began to be published in 1903, would influence later specification practice. The book, which is excellently reproduced on good quality paper, commences with general guidance on specification writing that is still largely relevant and is followed by over 1200 model specification clauses, organized by trades.

What makes Macey’s so useful is not just the intrinsic value of the information contained in these clauses, but also the explanatory advice that accompanies them together with the myriad of detailed marginal thumbnail sketches which illustrate the construction described. Although Macey makes no attempt to describe specialist ecclesiastical building work, when it comes to items for residential, industrial and commercial buildings the book is a veritable treasure trove containing information not easily found elsewhere. For example, detailed description and sketches are given for tall chimney shafts; coal chutes; retaining walls; stone staircases; timber framed domes; warehouse loop-hole frames, doors and flaps; butler’s pantry fittings; public bar counters; stable stall divisions; stall-board lights; roads paved with granite setts and much, much more.

As a single source of technical information on the construction of Edwardian buildings Macey’s has few rivals, except perhaps for the 1904 edition of Rivington’s 'Building Construction' (reprinted by Donhead, 2004) for which it is a perfect partner.