Herbert Fifield worked for the US Navy Public Works Department (1940-1945) likely alongside Lloyd Ruocco, Russell Forester and Sim Bruce Richards. Following WWII he worked for Bodman & Murrell Architects in Baton Rouge (1946-47) before returning his role at San Diego Unified School District (1948-51). He launched Johnson, Hatch & Wulff (1951-53) prior to Wulff, Fifield & Associates in 1953.
Herb Fifield was born in Newton, Iowa on October 11, 1915 and attended USC between 1934-38. Concurrent to securing ‘private instruction’ in Structural Engineering (between 1941-1944), Herb worked for the US Navy Public Works Department from 1940 to 1945 likely alongside Lloyd Ruocco, Russell Forester and Sim Bruce Richards. Following the War he was employed as both architect and engineer for Bodman & Murrell Architects in Baton Rouge, Louisiana (1946-47). Returning to San Diego, Fifield worked as Staff Architect for the San Diego Unified School District (1948-51) before joining the team at Johnson, Hatch & Wulff again both as Architect and Engineer (1951-53) where he hit it off with Vic Wulff.
With Fifield, Wulff bought Johnson’s office from Bill Lodge after Johnson passed away. Here they employed John Henderson as a draftsman (until he left to work for Lloyd Ruocco), Mrs. O'Connell as secretary (she had worked for Temp Johnson for several years) and Wally Duncan who worked as the office’s estimator, spec writer and job checker. The list of in-house registered architects to join the firm in the early years included Wally Duncan, Ed Zimmerman, Bill Unger, and Don Innes.
Wulff and Fifield's office grew to nearly two dozen before opening a second office at the NE corner of 5th & Beech on the second floor.
Allison - McCloskey Escrow Company
1336 Garnet Avenue
American Optical Building
Fifth Avenue
Bird Rock Elementary School (1951)
5371 La Jolla Hermosa Avenue
Chula Vista Recreation Center and Ira C. Copley Memorial YMCA (1955)
Dentist Office
Clairemont Mesa Boulevard
Donald N. Sharp Hospital (1954)
Herb Fifield Residence (1949)
3935 La Cresta Drive
Harley E. Knox Elementary School (1958)
James Whitcomb Riley Elementary School (1959)
Kelco Office & Research Lab (1957)
Pacific Beach Junior High (1953)
4676 Ingraham Street
Private Residence for Kellogg employee
Spindrift Drive, La Jolla
John Henderson worked on this project
Psychiatric Unit at San Diego County General Hospital (1960)
Hillcrest
San Diego State College Training School (1953)
College Area
San Diego Public Library (1954)
Walt Whitman Elementary School (1958)
Woodrow Wilson Jr. High (Addition) (1959)
Wulff, Vic Residence (1952)
23 L Street, Chula Vista
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