William Allen entered the Architectural Association as a Third Year student in 1955. As part of his final year’s study, in the AA Fifth Year, Allen attended the AA’s Department of Tropical Studies course for 1957-58. Upon graduation, he moved to Ghana where he was employed in Accra by the Public Works Department, working under Senior Architect W.J. Clarke, drawing up schemes including a Diamond Market for Accra, a bus terminal (both unexecuted), and a fountain for Kwame Nkrumah Circle (now the Kwame Nkrumah Interchange). Allen returned to the UK in August 1960 and subsequently joined the practice of Geoffrey Salmon, Speed Associates, working for them throughout the 1970s and employed on a number of schemes in Dubai.

Sources

• Architectural Association Student Register 1945-1972, AA Archives
• Department of Tropical Architecture, student listing, Otto Koenigsberger Collection, Box OK27, AA Archives
• The National Archives, London, UK; Board of Trade: Commercial and Statistical Department and Successors: Inwards Passenger Lists; Class: Bt26; Piece: 1459; Item: 11
• Personal Communication, 10th March, 2025.