Peter Newell was an Australian architect and architectural critic with a special interest in domestic architecture. He as born in Melbourne and graduated with a Bachelor of Architecture from the University of Melbourne. During World War II he served with the Australian Army Engineers. In 1945 he married Betty Thelander. Moving to Queensland after the war, Newell worked for Addison and McDonald for a short period. He then worked for Chambers and Ford, which became Ford, Hutton and Newell in 1951. The partnership existed between 1951-1975. In the 1960s Newell lectured at the University of Queensland and took a Masters in Architecture degree from this University in 1988. He has been credited with influencing the modernist movement and the design of modernist homes in Queensland. He died on 21 May 2010 in Brisbane.