The appointment of the highly respected and unassuming Thomas Smith Tait of Sir John Burnet, Tait and Partners as Chief Architect was masterly. Paisley-born Tait had no experience of previous exhibitions but was now a senior partner in the international firm of Sir John Burnet, Tait and Lorne, of London and Scotland. He devised the master plan in conjunction with the consulting engineers Crouch & Hogg of Glasgow and determined that the building style would be Art Deco.
The appointment of Thomas Smith Tait, a senior partner at Sir John Burnet, Tait and Partners, as Chief Architect was strategically well-planned.  Tait's lack of prior exhibition experience did not hinder his ability to create the master plan in collaboration with consulting engineers Crouch & Hogg of Glasgow, who chose Art Deco as the building style.