Weeks, H. Raymond (1901-1956)

Variant Name(s):

Howard Raymond Weeks

Birthplace:

Palmyra, Missouri, USA

Residences:

  • Durham, North Carolina

Trades:

  • Architect

Styles & Forms:

Beaux-Arts; Georgian Revival; International style; Neoclassical Revival

H. (Howard) Raymond Weeks (August 18, 1901-October 27, 1956) came to North Carolina not long after graduating in architecture from the Georgia Institute of Technology (Georgia Tech) and practiced in the Tar Heel state for the rest of his career. As a partner of Thomas C. Atwood in Atwood and Weeks and on his own, he was especially well known for educational and state government buildings.

Weeks was born in Palmyra, Missouri, to Howard L. and Musella Robert Weeks; the family later resided in South Carolina. After graduating from Georgia Tech in 1923, Raymond worked for the Atlanta architectural firm of Robert and Company. He soon moved to North Carolina, where he was employed as a draftsman by the T. C. Atwood Organization during the major expansion of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in the 1920s, working with chief engineer Thomas C. Atwood and architect Arthur C. Nash, and he also worked for the firm of Atwood and Nash. The Daily Tar Heel of March 8, 1930, reported that Weeks had been “notified by the state board of registration of architects that he has passed with honor the state examination and will be issued a c[e]rtificate as licensed architect. Mr. Weeks is at present in the service of the firm of Atwood and Nash, Inc., architects and engineers of Chapel Hill.”

The professional relationships within the firm must have been satisfactory, for after Nash retired in 1930, Atwood formed a partnership with the newly licensed Raymond Weeks as Atwood and Weeks, with Nash often serving in a consulting capacity for many years. In 1930, the census showed Weeks as head of a household that included his wife, Elsie, and their infant daughter, Patricia. Despite the crash of 1929 and the ensuing Great Depression, Atwood and Weeks found some key projects in the early 1930s, most prominently the Raleigh Memorial Auditorium and the United States Post Office in Durham. The latter was such a substantial project that according to the Durham Sun of October 5, 1931, in preparation for supervising the work, “the main office of Atwood and Weeks, architects, was today moved to Durham from Chapel Hill.” The firm would keep a branch office in Chapel Hill, as it still had “much work to do for the state university.”

Weeks was active in professional organizations in the state. He was the first president of the North Carolina Architects Association, which merged with the North Carolina Chapter of the American Institute of Architects, of which he became a member in 1938. He served as president of the state chapter of the AIA in 1945. In an especially important role, Weeks chaired the State College (present NCSU) accreditation committee for the School of Architecture and in 1948 made a report to the state AIA chapter that Henry L. Kamphoefner had been selected as dean of the new School of Design, a selection that would shape the future of the school along modernist lines.

Practicing on his own after Atwood’s retirement and death, Weeks continued to plan and execute state buildings and schools. Projects included work at the University of North Carolina, Davidson College, and Meredith College as well as public school buildings in Durham and Rocky Mount. At UNC he was especially active in planning dormitories and other structures needed to accommodate the postwar demand for student housing.

In association with engineer William C. Olsen, Weeks also planned one of the first major buildings at the Raleigh-Durham Airport. Plans dated 1954 for the airport “administrative building” show that it contained the waiting rooms, baggage rooms, restrooms, etc., so that it served as the passenger terminal as well as administrative offices; these are in the Harris and Pyne Records at NCSU Libraries Special Collections. (Previously, an article in the High Point Enterprise of June 18, 1952 cited George Watts Carr and Olsen as architects and engineer of a proposed passenger terminal at the Raleigh-Durham airport.)

Weeks was working on plans for buildings at the university on a tight deadline just days before his sudden death from a heart attack at age 55. He was survived by his wife, Elsie, and was buried in Durham’s Maplewood Cemetery. According to a tribute to Weeks in the Durham Sun, he was an “active and energetic” force in community affairs including the establishment of building codes and “the elimination of substandard housing.”

Harris and Pyne of Durham became a successor firm to H. Raymond Weeks, Inc. Some drawings, photographs, and other records from Atwood and Nash, Atwood and Weeks, and Raymond Weeks are included in the Harris and Pyne records at NCSU Libraries Special Collections.

  • Harris and Pyne Collection, Special Collections Research Center, North Carolina State University Libraries, Raleigh, North Carolina.
  • Archibald Henderson, The Campus of the First State University (1949).
  • C. David Jackson and Charlotte V. Brown, History of the North Carolina Chapter of the American Institute of Architects, 1913-1998 (1998).
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  • Ackland Art Museum

    Contributors:
    H. Raymond Weeks, architect
    Dates:

    1953

    Location:
    Chapel Hill, Orange County
    Street Address:

    101 South Columbia Street, Chapel Hill, NC

    Status:

    Standing

    Type:

    Educational


  • Alderman Hall

    Contributors:
    Thomas C. Atwood, architect; Atwood and Weeks, architects; H. Raymond Weeks, architect
    Dates:

    1937

    Location:
    Chapel Hill, Orange County
    Street Address:

    University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Campus, Chapel Hill, NC

    Status:

    Standing

    Type:

    Educational

    Note:

    Blueprints for this project are held by the University of North Carolina Library, Chapel Hill, in Collection Number 40102, “Physical Plant of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Records, 1904-1963.”


  • Alexander Dormitory

    Contributors:
    Thomas C. Atwood, engineer; Atwood and Weeks, architects; Arthur C. Nash, consulting architect; H. Raymond Weeks, architect
    Dates:

    1939

    Location:
    Chapel Hill, Orange County
    Street Address:

    University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC

    Status:

    Standing

    Type:

    Educational


  • Carroll Hall

    Contributors:
    J. A. Jones Construction Company, contractors; H. Raymond Weeks, architect
    Dates:

    Ca. 1953

    Location:
    Chapel Hill, Orange County
    Street Address:

    University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Campus, Chapel Hill, NC

    Status:

    Standing

    Type:

    Educational

    Note:

    The Chapel Hill Daily Tar Heel reported on May 5, 1953 on the dedication of three new buildings at the University of North Carolina, which had been designed by “Durham architect and engineer” Weeks and built by the J. A. Jones Construction Company of Charlotte. Named Carroll Hall, Gardner Hall, and Hanes Hall, the three were built for the School of Business Administration, as the former School of Commerce was renamed in 1950. The trio formed a secondary quadrangle extending from Polk Place as a complement to the earlier one across Polk Place which centers on Manning Hall.


  • Dormitory

    Contributors:
    H. Raymond Weeks, architect
    Dates:

    1948

    Location:
    Chapel Hill, Orange County
    Street Address:

    University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Campus, Chapel Hill, NC

    Status:

    Standing

    Type:

    Educational


  • Egbert Haywood House

    Contributors:
    H. Raymond Weeks, architect
    Dates:

    Ca. 1940

    Location:
    Durham, Durham County
    Street Address:

    28 Oak Dr., Durham, NC

    Status:

    Unknown

    Type:

    Residential


  • Gardner Hall

    Contributors:
    J. A. Jones Construction Company, contractors; H. Raymond Weeks, architect
    Dates:

    Ca. 1953

    Location:
    Chapel Hill, Orange County
    Street Address:

    University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Campus, Chapel Hill, NC

    Status:

    Standing

    Type:

    Educational

    Note:

    The Chapel Hill Daily Tar Heel reported on May 5, 1953 on the dedication of three new buildings at the University of North Carolina, which had been designed by “Durham architect and engineer” Weeks and built by the J. A. Jones Construction Company of Charlotte. Named Carroll Hall, Gardner Hall, and Hanes Hall, the three were built for the School of Business Administration, as the former School of Commerce was renamed in 1950. The trio formed a secondary quadrangle extending from Polk Place as a complement to the earlier one across Polk Place which centers on Manning Hall.


  • Gerrard Hall

    Contributors:
    Atwood and Nash, architects and engineers (1938); Thomas C. Atwood, engineer (1938); Arthur C. Nash, consulting architect (1938); William Nichols, architect (1822-1837); Thomas A. Waitt, builder (1837); H. Raymond Weeks, architect (1938)
    Variant Name(s):

    New Chapel

    Dates:

    1822-1837; 1858 [improvements]; 1938 [internally reconstructed]

    Location:
    Chapel Hill, Orange County
    Street Address:

    University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC

    Status:

    Standing

    Type:

    Educational

    Images Published In:

    John V. Allcott, The Campus at Chapel Hill: Two Hundred Years of Architecture (1986).
    M. Ruth Little, The Town and Gown Architecture of Chapel Hill, North Carolina, 1795-1975 (2006).
    C. Ford Peatross, William Nichols, Architect (1979).
    William S. Powell, The First State University: A Pictorial History of the University of North Carolina (1992).

    Note:

    As built from Nichols’s design, Gerrard Hall included an imposing Ionic portico on one side; the portico was removed ca. 1900, and recreated in 2007-2008. The hall was rebuilt internally in the 1930s.


  • Hanes Hall

    Contributors:
    J. A. Jones Construction Company, contractors; H. Raymond Weeks, architect
    Dates:

    Ca. 1953

    Location:
    Chapel Hill, Orange County
    Street Address:

    University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Campus, Chapel Hill, NC

    Status:

    Standing

    Type:

    Educational

    Note:

    The Chapel Hill Daily Tar Heel reported on May 5, 1953 on the dedication of three new buildings at the University of North Carolina, which had been designed by “Durham architect and engineer” Weeks and built by the J. A. Jones Construction Company of Charlotte. Named Carroll Hall, Gardner Hall, and Hanes Hall, the three were built for the School of Business Administration, as the former School of Commerce was renamed in 1950. The trio formed a secondary quadrangle extending from Polk Place as a complement to the earlier one across Polk Place which centers on Manning Hall.


  • Institute of Government

    Contributors:
    Thomas C. Atwood, engineer; Atwood and Weeks, architects; H. Raymond Weeks, architect
    Dates:

    1939

    Location:
    Chapel Hill, Orange County
    Street Address:

    University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Campus, Chapel Hill, NC

    Status:

    Standing

    Type:

    Educational


  • Kenan Dormitory

    Contributors:
    Thomas C. Atwood, engineer; Atwood and Weeks, architects; Arthur C. Nash, consulting architect; H. Raymond Weeks, architect
    Dates:

    1937-1939

    Location:
    Chapel Hill, Orange County
    Street Address:

    University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Campus, Chapel Hill, NC

    Status:

    Standing

    Type:

    Educational

    Note:

    Blueprints for Kenan Hall are at the University of North Carolina Library, Chapel Hill, in Collection Number 40102, “Physical Plant of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Records, 1904-1963.”


  • Lenoir Dining Hall

    Contributors:
    Thomas C. Atwood, engineer; Atwood and Weeks, architects; Arthur C. Nash, consulting architect; H. Raymond Weeks, architect
    Dates:

    1939

    Location:
    Chapel Hill, Orange County
    Street Address:

    University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Campus, Chapel Hill, NC

    Status:

    Standing

    Type:

    Educational


  • McIver Dormitory

    Contributors:
    Thomas C. Atwood, engineer; Atwood and Weeks, architects; Arthur C. Nash, consulting architect; H. Raymond Weeks, architect
    Dates:

    1937-1939

    Location:
    Chapel Hill, Orange County
    Street Address:

    University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Campus, Chapel Hill, NC

    Status:

    Standing

    Type:

    Educational

    Note:

    For McIver Hall, 10 sheets of blueprints from Atwood and Weeks are held by the University of North Carolina Library, Chapel Hill, in Collection Number 40102, “Physical Plant of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Records, 1904-1963.”


  • Mr. and Mrs. Wallace Wade House

    Contributors:
    H. Raymond Weeks, architect
    Dates:

    1952

    Location:
    Durham, Durham County
    Street Address:

    Durham, NC

    Status:

    Unknown

    Type:

    Residential

    Note:

    The Harris and Pyne collection, NCSU Libraries Special Collections, includes drawings by “H. Raymond Weeks, Inc., Architects and Engineers, Durham,” for a residence for Mr. and Mrs. Wallace Wade. They show an expansive ranch house with Colonial Revival detailing. Wallace Wade was a longtime football coach at Duke University for whom the university’s football stadium is named.


  • Psychiatric Hospital

    Contributors:
    H. Raymond Weeks, architect
    Dates:

    1951

    Location:
    Chapel Hill, Orange County
    Street Address:

    University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Medical Center, Chapel Hill, NC

    Status:

    Standing

    Type:

    Health Care


  • Raleigh Memorial Auditorium

    Contributors:
    Thomas C. Atwood, engineer (1932); Atwood and Weeks, architects (1932); Arthur C. Nash, architect (1932); Pearce Brinkley Cease + Lee, architects (1996-2001); H. Raymond Weeks, architect (1932); C. V. York, contractor (1932)
    Variant Name(s):

    Duke Energy Memorial Auditorium

    Dates:

    1932; 1996-2001

    Location:
    Raleigh, Wake County
    Street Address:

    South St. at south end of Fayetteville St., Raleigh, NC

    Status:

    Altered

    Type:

    Public

    Note:

    Construction of the massive civic auditorium at the south terminus of Raleigh’s principal commercial thoroughfare was a highly important project, especially given its timing in the early years of the Great Depression. Various architects hoped to gain the commission. The News and Observer reported on July 9, 1931, that Atwood and Weeks of Chapel Hill and Raleigh had been selected as the architects, noted that the firm was “formerly Atwood and Nash.” The Raleigh Times of October 22, 1931, stated that contractor C. V. York was awarded the general contract on a bid of $225,696; additional contracts covered plumbing, heating, etc. The stone edifice with its powerful Doric portico was dedicated in May, 1932. An expansion by Pearce Brinkley Cease + Lee harmonizes with the original building and reiterates the original Doric façade (still intact) designed to complement the State Capitol at the opposite end of Fayetteville Street; the building was reopened in 2001.


  • Raleigh-Durham Airport Administrative Building

    Contributors:
    William C. Olsen, engineer; H. Raymond Weeks, architect
    Dates:

    1954-1955

    Location:
    Wake County
    Street Address:

    Wake County, NC

    Status:

    Altered

    Type:

    Commercial

    Note:

    The plans dated 1954 show that the “Administrative Building” contained all the elements of a passenger terminal as well as offices. Whether any elements of that building survive in the extensively altered terminal is unknown; it is slated for demolition.


  • Spencer Hall

    Contributors:
    Atwood and Nash, architects (1924); Thomas C. Atwood, engineer (1924); William M. Kendall, consulting architect (1924); McKim, Mead and White, consulting architects (1924); Arthur C. Nash, architect (1924); T. C. Thompson, contractors (1924); H. Raymond Weeks, architect (1958)
    Dates:

    1924; 1958 (addition)

    Location:
    Chapel Hill, Orange County
    Street Address:

    University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Campus, Chapel Hill, NC

    Status:

    Standing

    Type:

    Educational

    Images Published In:

    M. Ruth Little, The Town and Gown Architecture of Chapel Hill, North Carolina, 1795-1975 (2006).
    William S. Powell, The First State University: A Pictorial History of the University of North Carolina (1992).

    Note:

    For the original Spencer Hall, 32 sheets of blueprints from Atwood and Nash are at University of North Carolina Library, Chapel Hill, in Collection Number 40102 (“Physical Plant of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Records, 1904-1963”). For the 1958 addition, that collection includes 16 sheets of blueprints by H. Raymond Weeks.


  • United States Post Office

    Contributors:
    Thomas C. Atwood, architect; Atwood and Weeks, architects; H. Raymond Weeks, architect
    Dates:

    1934

    Location:
    Durham, Durham County
    Street Address:

    323 E. Chapel Hill St., Durham, NC

    Status:

    Standing

    Type:

    Public


  • Wilson Hall

    Contributors:
    Thomas C. Atwood, engineer; Atwood and Weeks, architects; Arthur C. Nash, consulting architect; H. Raymond Weeks, architect
    Dates:

    1939

    Location:
    Chapel Hill, Orange County
    Street Address:

    University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Campus, Chapel Hill, NC

    Status:

    Standing

    Type:

    Educational


  • Woollen Gym

    Contributors:
    Thomas C. Atwood, engineer; Atwood and Weeks, architects; Arthur C. Nash, consulting architect; H. Raymond Weeks, architect
    Dates:

    1937

    Location:
    Chapel Hill, Orange County
    Street Address:

    University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Campus, Chapel Hill, NC

    Status:

    Standing

    Type:

    Educational


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