Sun Devil Stadium, designed by Varney in 1958Hotel Valley Ho, Scottsdale 1956H.B. Farmer Building ASU 1962
Edward Leighton Varney Jr. (1914–1998) was an American Modernist architect working in Phoenix, Arizona from 1937 until his retirement in 1985. He designed the Hotel Valley Ho in Scottsdale, and Sun Devil Stadium at Arizona State University. In 1941, he began his career, which would extend to his retirement in 1985. His firm would continue designing buildings into the 1990s.
Administration Buildings, now Interdisciplinary Buildings A and B, ASU 1950-51
Life and career
Edward Leighton Varney Jr. was born on October 11, 1914, in Alameda, California, the son of Edward Leighton, and Frances Deane, Varney. He attended the University of California at Berkeley before transferring to the University Southern California where he graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree in architecture in 1938. That same year he moved to Phoenix and took a job with O.A. Bell Architects working as a draftsman on the Arizona Capital addition. In 1941, he partnered with Charles Gilmore and started the firm of Gilmore & Varney. In 1946 after Charles Gilmore unexpectedly died of a heart attack, Varney reorganized his firm into, Edward L. Varney Associates. He was soon joined by Reginald Sydnor, and Robert Sexton and in 1965 the firm was reorganized into Varney, Sexton, Sydnor Associates. Varney's firm specialized in designing industrial facilities such as those for Motorola, General Electric, Sperry Rand and Emerson Electric. The firm also specialized in educational structures designing several buildings on the Tempe campus of Arizona State University as well as many schools for the local school districts. Varney is credited with mentoring some influential architects in Arizona, including Ralph Haver, Richard E. Drover, and Frederick P. Weaver. in 1971, Varney was made a fellow in the American Institute of Architects. In 1980, Reginald Sydnor, a partner in the firm, took early retirement. The firm was subsequently reorganized into Varney, Sexton, Lunsford, Aye Associates with John C. Lunsford and Khin Aye becoming partners. Varney retired in 1985 and died on June 30, 1998. After Varney retired the firm would continue under the same name with Robert Sexton Serving as president. The firm continued designing many large scale projects well into the 1990s.
Selected works
Works by Varney's firm include:
As Gilmore & Varney (1941-1946)
1941-1942 Litchefield Subdivision, Goodyear, AZ
1942 Van Dorn Home, Phoenix, AZ
1942 Yuma Army Airport, Yuma, AZ
1943 Maricopa County Health Center, Phoenix, AZ (Demolished)
1945 Machan Elementary School, Phoenix, AZ (Demolished)
1945 Marcus Lawrence Memorial Clinic, Cottonwood, AZ
1945 Winslow City Jail, Winslow, AZ
1945 Newberry Electric Corporation, Phoenix, AZ
1945 Neil B. McGinnis Equipment Company (Now The Vintage 45) Phoenix, AZ
