Person

Voller, Ronald James, 1915-2016

1915-2016

Ronald James Voller (1915 - 2006) received his architectural education at the Brisbane Central Technical School and as one of the inaugural students in the Diploma of Architecture at the University of Queensland in the early 1930s. He was an articled pupil to his second cousin Roderic Walter Voller in 1932 in Brisbane. From 1933 to 1937, Voller was an architectural cadet with the Queensland Department of Public Works in the Architecture Branch. Completing his Diploma of Architecture in 1936, he was awarded the Student Gold Medal by the Queensland Chapter of the Royal Australian Institute of Architects. In 1937 he was employed as an architectural draftsman with Hall and Cook (Francis R Hall and Harold M Cook) before moving to Sydney in 1938 where he worked for Robertson, Marks and McCredie. While in Sydney he passed the Board exams and qualified as an architect in 1938. At the end of the 1930s, Ronald became the third generation of Voller architects, with Roderic Voller (his second cousin) prior to him and Walter Carey Voller (Roderic’s father) the first. From 1938 to 1946 Voller went to work for the Commonwealth Works Department in Perth, West Australia. While in Perth, he met and married Jean Hayles. Returning to Brisbane in 1946 he set up practice in Queen Street with Roderic Voller, as Voller & Voller. This practice became The Architects Group and by the beginning of the 1950s had become Ronald J Voller Architect. At the end of the 1950s Ronald amalgamated his practice with Bligh Jessup Bretnall & Partners and soon after became a partner himself. He remained a partner in BJB&P until his retirement in 1985. This practice then merged with other firms to become BVN Architecture, one of the largest architectural firms in Australia.

Revised, KK, 29-Apr-20

Revised with AU QU authority identifier, Kerri Klumpp, 29-Apr-2020