Pioneer Information
Founded by architects James Nolen, Jr., and Herbert Swinburne in 1949, this Philadelphia firm earned national recognition for its highly functional commercial buildings. In 1954, Nolen & Swinburne presented a master plan for Temple University’s main campus. The plan called for the demolition of historic row houses and proposed a classic campus quadrangle comprising large Modernist towers, a central plaza, a bell tower, walkways, lawns, and cloistered gardens. The firm also completed work on the Philadelphia Country Club in Gladwyne, Pennsylvania, in 1957 and worked with Ian McHarg on the Pennsylvania State Office Building in Philadelphia, completed in 1958. In the 1960s, Nolen & Swinburne collaborated with Marcel Breuer on the Robert C. Weaver Federal Building and the Hubert H. Humphrey Building in Washington, D.C. At that time, the firm employed some 40 architects and 21 engineers. The firm completed a plan for Temple University’s proposed Institutional Development District in 1963 and created the master plan for Drexel University in 1964. That same year, Victor Kusch became a partner in the firm, serving as head of programming and client relations. In 1966, the firm returned to work for Temple University, this time creating a development plan. Kusch became a senior partner in 1971 and left to become vice president of a New York firm in 1974, the same year that Nolen & Swinburne closed. Swinburne then worked independently as an architectural and construction consultant.
