John Alexander Carfrae (1868–1947) was a Scottish architect of particular note in the field of innovative school design. He was considered one of the best architects of his generation, but his works were rather limited as he was constrained to the standard board school formats.[1]
Born in Edinburgh the son of Thomas Carfrae, a civil engineer. He was the younger brother of George Somervil Carfae, also a civil engineer. The family lived at 9 Osborne Terrace in Edinburgh's West End.[2] He was educated at James Gillespie's High School.
Carfrae was articled in 1881 to Robert Wilson, architect for the Edinburgh School Board. In 1889 he moved to London to be an assistant to Arthur Cawston, but transferred to HM Office of Works to work under Henry Tanner. In June 1892 Carfrae returned to Edinburgh to work in Sydney Mitchell and Robert Wilson's practice. Six months later, Carfrae became Wilson's principal assistant and he took over most design work.[1]
When Robert Wilson died in 1901, Carfrae inherited both his office and the full role as architect to the Edinburgh School Board. In 1918 local government practices changed, and the City Architect became responsible for school design, resulting in Carfrae losing his practice. However, the city architect Ebenezer James MacRae still passed him two commissions: for Balgreen and Stenhouse schools.[1]
From 1907 until death he lived in Polwarth, Edinburgh, at 3 Gillsland Road. He lived here with his wife, Augusta Wilkes Henderson, and their two sons. Carfrae retired completely in 1939. He died on 11 July 1947.[1]
Carfrae worked largely for the Edinburgh School Board. Even before he completely took control of this design function, his style is clear, acting as Chief Assistant within the office.[3]