John Manuel (1879-1933)

Studied architecture at Heriot Watt College in Edinburgh, then worked as an assistant to Hippolyte J. Blanc, from 1899 to 1904. From 1904 to 1907 he worked as an assistant in the office of Matear & Simon, headed by Frank W. Simon, who was to later win the international competition for the new Provincial Parliament Building in Winnipeg . Manuel moved to London in late 1907 and gained additional experience in the office of R. Weir Schultz. It was Frank Simon who likely persuaded his young assistant to move to Winnipeg where he became the local supervising architect on the commission for the Parliament Buildings from 1912 to 1915.

During this period, Manuel was also working independently and opened an office in Winnipeg in 1918 under his own name. Later elected as President of the Manitoba Association of Architects in 1926. In 1927 he moved to Alberta to complete a commission in Banff, and to supervise the construction of the CPR hotels at Banff and at Lake Louise (designed by others). Manuel died in mysterious circumstances on 26 June 1933 when he fell nearly 270 feet from the roof of the Palliser Hotel in Calgary onto the railway tracks far below.