The Rotary Club of Guelph is delighted to welcome its newest member, Robert Turner, inducted on Friday, March 10th, 2023. An architect, he is now the sole owner of Fryett Turner Architects, Inc. having taken over the business from our former Rotarian, Jim Fryett.
 
 

In his own words, here is Robert's introduction.

I was born in northwest England and grew up in Chester, a small city on the border between England and Wales. I studied Architecture at the University of Edinburgh from 1987 to 1992. On graduating during an economic slump, I initially worked designing and building specialist bicycles, followed by a period as an Architectural Assistant. I passed my professional exams and registered as an Architect in 1999, working first in a professional Architectural practice, then for a property developer, in Edinburgh.

My family emigrated to Halifax, Nova Scotia in 2010 and I worked with WHW Architects (Now Architecture 49, part of the WSP group) as a Project Architect. We moved to Fergus in February 2015, and I joined prominent Rotarian Jim Fryett at his office in Elora. At the time, Jim was in the early stages of planning his retirement and eventually we agreed that I would buy into the business, first as a 50% partner, and now as sole owner of the renamed Fryett Turner Architects Inc. My family all became Canadian Citizens in 2018.

I am married with three adult children, one of whom lives in Edinburgh. When not designing buildings, I enjoy designing and making a variety of models and machines, such as model airplanes, steam engines, Wind turbines and so on. I am currently volunteering on the committee of the Rural Wellington Hospice, aiming to get a hospice built in Fergus to provide much-needed palliative care services to the rural community.

In this photo (L-R) are Andrew Johnson, Robert Turner, Tracey Curtis and Dennis Weiler (Robert's membership proposer).