Keith Yelland was a well-known local architect who established Russell & Yelland – a prominent South Australian architectural firm which has existed for over seventy years.
Keith Mills Yelland was born on 25 January 1900 in Adelaide. During World War Two he enlisted whilst in Melbourne and served with the Royal Australian Air Force becoming a Flight Lieutenant (National Archives of Australia) (Architecture July-Sept. 1951: 71). He died in 1973 shortly before his business partner, Charles A. Russell, who died in 1975 (South Australian Genealogy and Heraldry Society).
As a boy, Yelland demonstrated his artistic skills when he entered a painting in an exhibition of South Australian products, manufactures, arts, and industries in 1910. He exhibited an 'oil flower study' in the fine and applied arts section and was awarded a certificate of merit in the under 15 category (The Advertiser 1910: 10). Yelland’s growing interest in design was further expressed when he designed a fundraising lapel button for the Farmer’s Co-operative Union for the Australia Day pageant. It was reported in The Advertiser that the button 'symbolises the industry by a bag and sheaf of wheat and a sheep artistically arranged, and was designed specially for them by Mr. Keith M. Yelland' (The Advertiser July 1917: 6).
Given Yelland’s artistic and design ability, it was a logical choice for him to enter the profession of architecture. He undertook both an academic and article architectural training. He was articled to a local architect Charles W. Rutt from 1917 to 1921 (Page 1986: 158). Yelland also studied at the Architectural Department at the South Australian School of Mines and Industries (School of Mines and Industries), and the South Australian School of Arts and Crafts (School of Arts and Crafts). In 1917 he received 'Excellent' results for the School of Arts and Crafts’ subject Intermediate Solid Geometry (The Advertiser Dec. 1917: 9). Yelland continued to study throughout his articled training and in 1919 he received 'Good' results for the School of Arts and Crafts’ subject Intermediate Freehand (The Advertiser May 1919: 7). In 1919 he was nominated as the best student in the subjects of History, and Mechanics (South Australian School of Mines and Industries 1920: 46). Yelland even received a special mention at the School of Mines and Industries Annual Closing Ceremony, where the Head of the Architectural Department, Louis Laybourne Smith reported that his 'work is so good as to deserve special congratulation. He is recommended for the prize awarded by the Institute of Architects for the best student in the department for the year' (The Advertiser Dec. 1919: 14).
After Yelland completed his articles, he continued to work with Rutt until approximately 1923. From 1924 to 1926 he worked in the Architect-in-Chief’s Department. Yelland then moved to the Commonwealth Department of Works and Housing where he worked for four years, but later returned to the Architect-in-Chief's Department where he stayed until he established his own private practice in 1937 (Architecture July-Sept. 1951: 71). Yelland worked under Alfred E. Simpson who held the position of Architect-in-Chief from 1920 to 1938 (Cheesman Collection, S209/2/20/1). However it also appears that while Yelland was working as a government architect, he undertook some private commissions working from, most likely his own residence at 42 Clifton Street, Malvern (1927-32), and later from Young Street, North Unley (1936-7) (Willis 1998). From 1937 to 1938, after he left government office, he worked out of the CML building in King William Street, and in 1939 from the Mutual Life Chambers in Grenfell Street (Willis 1998). In 1939, a couple of years after he had established himself as a private practitioner, Yelland formed a partnership with Charles A. Russell to form Russell & Yelland – a practice which still exists today (2009). The partnership collaborated with others including William Lucas (Russell Collection, S98).
Yelland was an active member of the local profession. In 1922, shortly after he finished his articles and completed the required academic subjects, he became an Associate of the South Australian Institute of Architects (SAIA). He served as a SAIA Councillor for several years acting as both the Secretary and Vice President (Architecture July-Sept. 1951: 71). His years of involvement culminated in him becoming the SAIA President for the term from 24 August 1950 to 3 September 1952 (Page 1986: 305). In 1952 one of the causes which Yelland took up as President, with the support of SAIA Vice President Wilfred T. Haslam, was co-signing a letter to the Premier 'expressing reservations on the siting of a new town near Salisbury and the expansion of Gawler and recommending an enquiry by a qualified Planner with knowledge of similar projects in Britain' (SAIA Bulletin July 1951-June 1952: 5 cited in McDougall).
Yelland was elected as a Fellow of the Royal Australian Institute of Architects (RAIA) in 1948 (Architecture July-Sept. 1951: 71). In 1953 he attended the annual conference of the RAIA in Canberra as the South Australian delegate (The Canberra Times 1953: 2). Earlier in 1941, after the enactment of the Architects Act, Yelland, then an experienced architect, was one of the earliest professionals to become registered (register number 32).
One of Yelland’s earliest works was C.W. Rutt & K.M. Yelland’s reinforced concrete condensing tower at Mile End (c.1923) (Willis 1998). After he formed the partnership with Russell, one of their first projects was a ‘Seven roomed residence’ at Springfield c.1939. Russell & Yelland 'balanced residential commissions with an addition to a factory in Grote Street, Adelaide c.1939 and extensions, additions and alterations to the Green Dragon Hotel in Adelaide c.1939 (Willis 1998). In 1940 Russell & Yelland entered the Adelaide Boys High School Competition which was won by the Sydney architects Fitzgerald and Brogan (Russell collection S98/3/1-5)' (Collins 2008).
'As a practice Russell & Yelland played an important role in the architectural profession during World War Two. It designed and documented not only Air Raid Precautions including the conversion of both the Sir Edwin Smith Stand at Adelaide Oval and the Norwood Oval grandstand, but also an Air Raid Shelter as a private commission for Mrs T.R. Scarfe of Eden Park, Marryatville (Collins 2007: 319, 328, 331). Russell & Yelland was an active practice in the post World War Two period. It undertook a significant number of rural projects particularly in Broken Hill necessitating an office there as well as Adelaide (Russell Collection S98)' (Collins 2008).
'The firm of Russell & Yelland continued to grow. In the RAIA publication Architecture SA 1970-1980 it was considered to be among South Australia’s ‘leading’ architectural practices (Wotton cited in RAIA n.d. no page number). Its project ‘Housing for the Aged’ at Woodville was showcased. It was praised for its sense of community and the design scheme had a clear expression of materials including brick, timber siding, and skillion roofs' (Collins 2008). The practice of Russell & Yelland continues to operate today (2009) and undertakes a range of educational, residential, commercial, and industrial commissions (Russell & Yelland website).
Susan Lustri
Citation details
Lustri, Susan, 'Yelland, Keith Mills’, Architecture Museum, University of South Australia, 2013, Architects of South Australia: [http://www.architectsdatabase.unisa.edu.au/arch_full.asp?Arch_ID=97] | 
Architects of South Australia, Copyright 2008, Updated regularly