1914 – Design for Art Gallery & Museum, Belfast

In 1913, a competition was held to design a new building to house the Belfast Museum and Art Gallery’s expanding collections. James Cumming Wynnes of Edinburgh won the competition, which was judged by Sir John James Burnet, but the First World War delayed construction and only one portion of this ambitious scheme was completed, opened in 1929. The u-shaped building stood for many years with exposed temporary end walls and an incomplete courtyard. The second premium was awarded to Richard M. McGunn, Glasgow; third premium to Wright & Wylie, Glasgow; and the fourth premium to Tait, Savege, & Lawson, London.

James Cumming Wynnes was articled to Burnet Son & Campbell in Glasgow from 1892 to 1897. He remained with John James Burnet after the dissolution of the partnership in 1897, rising to the position of draughtsman and later chief of the Glasgow branch office. He was admitted LRIBA on 30 January 1911, one of his proposers being Burnet.