Treadwell was born in 1922. His architectural career began as a draughtsman in the Air Force before working in the Architectural Division of the Ministry of Works, and private practice. His designwork included factories, office buildings, flats, houses and churches, with examples of his domestic architecture including the Etherton House in Miramar, the Atkins House in Upper Hutt and the Blumhardt House of 1957. In 1953 he described the Aitkens house in terms which find resonance with contemporary ambitions for domestic living: