Denis John Wigram Allen – “John” to his family and friends – came from an old legal family, the founders of today’s international law practice known as Allens. Naturally, it was expected that he would follow in the family footsteps, and although he was accepted into the University of Sydney’s law faculty, he instead followed his passion for art, drawing and construction to become an architect, studying at what was then Sydney Technical College (now UTS).
As a fledgling architect, Allen worked at Rudder Littlemore and Rudder,
