Thomas Adams (architect)

Thomas Adams
Born	10 September 1871 near Edinburgh
Died	24 March 1940 Battle, Sussex, United Kingdom
Nationality	British
Occupation	Architect
Projects	the Hydrostone section of Halifax, Nova Scotia

Thomas Adams (10 September 1871 – 24 March 1940) was a pioneer of urban planning. Born on Meadowhouse farm near Edinburgh to parents James and Margaret Adams, he was educated at Daniels Stewart's College in Edinburgh and was a farmer in his early years, Adams moved to London where he worked as a journalist. He served as secretary to the Garden City Association and was the first manager of Letchworth, England from 1903 to 1906.

Adams became a designer of low-density residential developments that were commonly referred to as "garden suburbs." After the Halifax Explosion in 1917, Adams designed the Hydrostone section using Garden City principles. In the same year he published , one of the earliest books to advocate the use of land use controls. He also designed a portion of Corner Brook, Newfoundland. He worked with Halifax architect Andrew R. Cobb on this project. On other projects in Quebec and Nova Scotia he partnered with Ross and Macdonald of Montreal. He was later responsible for surveys and a plan for New York City.

On returning to the United Kingdom, Thomas Adams became one of the early presidents of the Institute of Landscape Architects (ILA) which became the Landscape Institute. In 1932, he was asked by Massachusetts Institute of Technology architect William Emerson to design a city planning curriculum for the university. His son, Frederick Adams, was nominated by Emerson to be the first department head of City Planning at the MIT and was named a "Pioneer Planner" by the American Institute of Certified Planners. Towards the end of his life, Adams served as a visiting lecturer in his son's new department.

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