15 Facts About Alison Sleigh

Alison Sleigh was likely the first New Zealand woman to attain membership of the Royal Institute of British Architects.

Alison Sleigh contributed to the design of the Shakespeare Memorial Theatre in Stratford, and is known especially for her line-drawings in Edward Gunn's Regency Houses series, and in John Summerson's book Georgian London.

Alison Sleigh was educated at the Canterbury College School of Art, and in 1919 was employed by her teacher Samuel Hurst Seager as an articled pupil.

The First New Zealand Town-Planning Conference and Exhibition was held in Wellington in 1919, and Alison Sleigh entered a garden suburb design into competition.

Alison Sleigh was awarded a bronze medal, and her design was published, using only her surname, in New Zealand Building Progress.

Alison Sleigh passed the intermediate examination of the NZIA in 1920, and, probably encouraged by Seager or Wood in April 1921 she moved to London to study at the Architectural Association School of Architecture.

Women had been admitted there since 1917, and so Alison Sleigh was one of the 'pioneer women students'.

Alison Sleigh was considered a talented student at the school, and Robert Atkinson, the Director of Education, wrote to Sleigh's father to request that her initial two-year stay be extended to allow her to complete the five year course of study.

The medallion was not awarded that year but due to the strength of their entries four students, including Alison Sleigh, were exempted from the testimony of study normally required for the RIBA final exam.

Alison Sleigh was still required to pass the professional practice exam, which she did in December 1927, and in June of that year was elected ARIBA.

Alison Sleigh married architect John Chiene Shepherd, known as Jock, in February 1928.

Alison Sleigh is believed to have worked specifically on the spiral staircase.

Alison Sleigh gave birth to a son in 1934 and soon after returned to work, partnering for a short while with Janet Fletcher, another AA 'pioneer woman student'.

The NBR listed and recorded heritage buildings that were under threat of destruction or demolition, and Alison Sleigh's work included measuring, drawing, and photographing the buildings.

Alison Sleigh died in England in 1972, never having returned to New Zealand.