Paul H. Kirk

Who was Paul H. Kirk?

Paul Hayden Kirk was a Pacific Northwest architect. Paul Kirk's designs contributed to development of a regionally appropriate version of Modern architecture. Many of his buildings are as much appreciated today as they were at the time they were built.

Born in Salt Lake City, Utah in 1914, Paul Hayden Kirk arrived in Seattle at the age of eight, graduating from Roosevelt High School in 1932. During his childhood Kirk suffered from polio which left him permanently disabled. His use of one of his arms was limited, he walked with a limp, and he sometimes used a crutch.

After receiving his architecture degree from the University of Washington in 1937, Kirk worked for a variety of architects including Floyd Naramore, A.M. Young, B. Dudley Stuart, and Henry Bittman. Kirk then started his own practice in 1939 and began designing homes for his older brother, Blair Kirk, a building contractor.

Early tendencies toward simplified forms and details emerged in Kirk's early design for a speculative housing development on Columbia Ridge where limited materials and budget necessitated a more functional solution.