John Toovey was born in Greenwich, London, the son of a Major-General of the British Indian Army. He was educated at Malvern College, Worcestershire, and entered Guildford College of Art at the age of 17, where he studied painting for two terms. He was then awarded a Surrey County Major Scholarship to enrol at the Architectural Association, where he gained an AA Year Prize for five consecutive years, graduating with Diploma Honours in 1955. As part of his final year’s studies at the AA, Toovey joined the inaugural year of the Department of Tropical Architecture. Immediately after the AA, Toovey worked for Mountford Pigott and Partners, based in South Kensington, before joining the practice of Denys Lasdun and Partners, where he worked on the concept stage of the Royal College of Physicians building. He subsequently worked with Morton Lupton, in Wallingford, Oxfordshire, where he was made an Associate Partner in 1961. He was appointed Architect to the Zoological Society of London in 1967, a position he was to maintain until 1987. Amongst Toovey’s most significant works are the Michael Sobell Pavilions for apes and monkeys (1972) and the Lion Terrace (1976), both at London Zoo, and the White Rhino House (1972) at Whipsnade Zoo. Toovey also engaged in overseas consultancy, from 1969 onwards, designing the masterplan for Jurong Bird Park, in Singapore, the largest such park in Asia at the time. He also worked on zoo consultation projects in North Africa, the Gulf and Australia, latterly operating as Senior Partner and Managing Director of Toovey Lane Consultants.

Sources

• Architectural Association Student Register 1945-1972, AA Archives
• Architectural Association Diploma Roll Book, 1924-1963, AA Archives
• Department of Tropical Architecture, student listing, Otto Koenigsberger Collection, Box OK27, AA Archives
• Oral History Recording With John Toovey, 21st August, 2009. Architectural Association Archives.
• General Register Office; United Kingdom; England & Wales, Civil Registration Birth Index, 1916-2007. Reference: Volume 1d, Page 1075