Elected ARSA: 21 March 1962
Elected RSA: 9 February 1977
Peter Whiston RSA was born and brought up in the tenements of Leith. He was educated at Holy Cross Academy, and he spent his early life playing rugby, football and served as an altar boy at the Cathedral.
During the Second World War, he served in the Royal Engineers and was posted to India. At the end of the war, Whiston returned to Scotland, spending several years working as Chief Architect of Scottish Special Housing, building homes for men returning from the war.
Over almost 30 years, Whiston designed churches of all denominations around Scotland. Perhaps most significant in his portfolio of churches is the Cistercian Monastery at Nunraw in East Lothian, the first new monastery in Scotland since the Reformation.
His work combined bold post-war optimism with a firm belief in Scottish restrain. His materials were local stone, harling, pine and even cobbles recycled from the streets of Edinburgh. Any decoration in his work was commissioned from his contemporaries at Edinburgh College of Art.
He was elected ARSA on the 21st of March 1962 and RSA on the 9th of February 1977.
