Background
Wilson grew up on a coastal sheep station owned by the Riddiford family at Tora, Wairarapa, where his father Clement Henry Wilson was the manager. His mother was Ida Agnes Wilson (née Clarkson).
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Derek Wilson
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He attended Rathkeale College and Wanganui Collegiate schools.
Career
He was active in Wellington. He is also known as an environmentalist, and has published several works. During World War Two, Wilson trained as a pilot in Florida for the Fleet Air Armenian
Wilson trained as an architect at the University of Auckland.
After graduating, Wilson left New Zealand and worked in London for Ramsey, Murray, White and Ward (the firm of two New Zealand ex-pats Keith Murray and Basil Ward), as well as for Sir Hugh Casson and the London County Council. Returning to New Zealand, he settled in Masterton and then moved to Wellington to join forces with William Toomath to set up Toomath and Wilson.
Toomath and Wilson were later joined by Don Irvine and Grahame Anderson in 1972, forming the firm Toomath Wilson Irvine Anderson Limited.
Other work of note includes the Maunsell beach-house at Riversdale Beach, the Wilson house in Khandallah, Street Matthew"s Church in Brooklyn, Wellington, and his Marine Research Facilities at Wellington"s Greta Point (now NIWA) (1980). All are well known as important works in Wellington"s architectural history.
A recent book, "Four Architects", celebrates Wellington architecture and includes several of Wilson"s designs.
Wilson is also an active advocate for environmental and anti-nuclear issues, and has published on both topics. Perhaps his most significant published work in this area is a 2001 book titled "Five Holocausts".
Achievements
Membership
He was a member of the Wellington Architectural Centre, including as President (1963) and Committee Member (1961-1962, 1964). In 1984, Wilson became the founding co-ordinator of Architects Against Nuclear Arms and has also been a member of the Pacific Institute of Resource Management and the National Consultative Committee on Disarmament and Abolition.
