Basic Biographical Details Name: | Charles Peter Womersley (known as Peter Womersley) | Designation: | | Born: | 24 June 1923 | Died: | August 1993(?) | Bio Notes: | Charles Peter Womersley (always known as Peter) was born on 29 June 1923 (Associateship Paper) or 1924 (Fellowship Paper). His grammar school headmaster opposed his idea of a career in architecture and he was presuaded to study law at Cambridge. Before he embarked on this, he was called up for military service during the Second World War and served with an infantry regiment. Although he was stationed abroad he saw little action and he was able to indulge in five years of cultural enlightenment. After demobilisation in September 1947 he started the 5-year course at the Architectural Association, passing the entrance exam at the age of 23. He won a three-year travelling scholarship while at the AA and this enabled him to travel widely on the Continent. During his course he visited France (1947), Germany and Italy (1948), Belgium and Italy (1949), France and Italy (1950), France Italy Germany and Austria (1951) and Belgium, Germany Austria, Italy and France (1952).
He left the AA to take up an opportunity of a one-off practical experience, helping to design a sheikh's palace in Kuwait. In july 1952 he worked briefly on the Royal Festival Hall (with the LCC Architect's Department?) and then in factories producing architectural products. He was admitted ARIBA on 5 December 1952, his proposers being Arthur Korn, G R J Anderson who was President of the AA and Jonathan *** (Secretary of the AA). At this time he was working as an assistant with the practice of Tripe & Wakeham in London and living in West Wickham in Kent.
Unusually, Womersley received a bronze medal for his first commission, a house for his brother, Farnley Hay, in Huddersfield. Shortly after, he set up practice on his own account from a cottage in the Scottish Borders. One of his first commissions was for a house for the textile designer Bernat Klein, for whom he would later also design an acclaimed studio building. In 1957 he was able to move his practice into his home, which he designed for himself. Basing his practice around commissions for private houses, made his business difficult and vulnerable. In desperation, Womersely entered and won the competition for the Roxburgh County Offices. A simultaneous invitation to design a sports centre for the University of Hull, enabled him to expand. By 1969 the small practice that employed no more than five workers, received his biggest commission to date for schools of town planning and sculpture for Edinburgh College of Art.
Influenced heavily by Frank Lloyd Wright, Womersley placed great importance on 'heart' and geometry.
He set up an autonomous Hong Kong office following a commission for a hotel and apartment blocks, which then coincided with a commission to completely gut and reconstruct the Peninsula Hotel.
Womersely was elected FRIBA on 9 December 1964, prposed by John Holt, Walter Marmorek and Joseph Blackburn.
He died in Lambeth, London in August 1993.
| Private and Business AddressesThe following private or business addresses are associated with this : | | Address | Type | Date from | Date to | Notes | | 8, Sherwood Way, West Wickham, Kent, England | Private | 1952 | | | | 1, Duke Street, London, England | Business | 1952 * | | | | The Rig, Gattonside, Melrose, Roxburghshire, Scotland | Private/business | 1956 | | |
* earliest date known from documented sources.
Employment and TrainingEmployersThe following individuals or organisations employed or trained this (click on an item to view details): | | Name | Date from | Date to | Position | Notes | | Tripe & Wakeham | 1952 | | Assistant | |
RIBARIBA Proposers
Buildings and DesignsThis was involved with the following buildings or structures from the date specified (click on an item to view details): | | Date started | Building name | Town, district or village | Island | City or county | Country | Notes | | 1950s | House | Scarborough | | Yorkshire | England | | | 1952 | Farnley Hey | Farnley Tyas (near) | | Huddersfield, Yorkshire | England | | | 1956 | High Sunderland | Galashiels | | Selkirkshire | Scotland | | | 1956 | House | Selkirk | | Selkirkshire | Scotland | | | 1956 | The Rig | Gattonside | | Roxburghshire | Scotland | | | 1960s | House | | | Manchester, Lancashire | England | | | 1960s | House | Bath | | South Gloucestershire | England | | | 1960 | Port Murray, Maidens | Girvan | | Ayrshire | Scotland | | | 1961 | Central Area Redevelopment, including council housing | Galashiels | | Selkirkshire | Scotland | | | 1961 | Peninsula Hotel | | | | Hong Kong | Alterations - in association with Peter Womersley | | 1961 | Repulse Bay, apartment buildings and hotel | | | | Hong Kong | In conjunction with Walter Marmorek- redevelopment of Repulse Bay for apartment buildings and new hotel | | 26 May 1961 | Roxburgh County Buildings | Newtown St Boswells | | Roxburghshire | Scotland | Womersley's competition entry (no. 17) won first place per Builder p990 | | 1962 | House | Stratford-upon-Avon | | Warwickshire | England | | | 1962 | House | Camberley | | Surrey | England | | | 1963 | Church Street Housing | Galashiels | | Selkirkshire | Scotland | | | 1963 | Fairydean Stadium | Galashiels | | Selkirkshire | Scotland | | | 1963 | Haddington District Asylum, ancillary building and North Lodge | Haddington | | East Lothian | Scotland | Psychiatric admission unit | | 1963 | Western General Hospital, Nuffield Transplantation Surgery Unit | | | Edinburgh | Scotland | | | 1964 | University of Hull, Sports Centre | Hull | | Yorkshire | England | | | 1965 | Edenside Group Practice Surgery & Caretaker's House | Kelso | | Roxburghshire | Scotland | | | 1966 | Roxburgh County Buildings | Newtown St Boswells | | Roxburghshire | Scotland | Roxburgh County Buildings Phase I | | 1967 | Edinburgh Municipal Art College | | | Edinburgh | Scotland | Development plan drawn up - intially to involve Schools of Town Planning and Sculpture. | | 1969 | Bernat Klein Studio, High Sunderland | Galashiels | | Selkirkshire | Scotland | | | 1969 | Edinburgh College of Art Extension | | | | | Commissioned 1969 to draft proposals for the schools of town planning and sculpture | | Before 1975 | Midland Bank | Huddersfield | | Yorkshire | England | | | Before 1975 | St George's office building | | | | Hong Kong | | | 1977 | Melrose District Asylum | Melrose | | Roxburghshire | Scotland | Boiler House | | 1977 | Monklands Leisure Centre | Coatbridge | | Lanarkshire | Scotland | |
ReferencesBibliographic ReferencesThe following books contain references to this : | | Author(s) | Date | Title | Part | Publisher | Notes | | Glendinning, M, MacInnes, R and MacKechnie, A | 1996 | A History of Scottish Architecture | | | p602 | | Glendinning, Miles | 1997 | Rebuilding Scotland: The Postwar Vision, 1945-75 | | Tuckwell Press Ltd | pp32, 36-8, 51, 118, 153-5, 167, 182 | | Glendinning, Miles and Muthesius, Stefan | 1994 | Tower Block: Modern Public Housing in England, Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland | | Yale University Press: New Haven and London | p381, Gazetteer 2 | | http://hsewsf.sedsh.gov.uk/hslive/hsstart?P_HBNUM=19484 | | http://hsewsf.sedsh.gov.uk/hslive/hsstart?P_HBNUM=19484 | | | HS Listing, HB Number 19484 High Sunderland, The Studio | | http://hsewsf.sedsh.gov.uk/hslive/hsstart?P_HBNUM=50862 | | http://hsewsf.sedsh.gov.uk/hslive/hsstart?P_HBNUM=50862 | | | HS Listing, HB Number: 50862 High Sunderland, House | | RIBA | 1970 | RIBA Directory 1970 | | | | | Willis, Peter | 1977 | New architecture in Scotland | | | p10 Group Practice Consulting Rooms, Kelso; Private House, Turnberry Ayrshire p68-71 Bernat Klein Studio p88-89 Nuffield Transplantation Unit, Edinburgh p90-1 Group Practice Consulting Rooms, Kelso |
Periodical ReferencesThe following periodicals contain references to this : | | Periodical Name | Date | Edition | Publisher | Notes | | Architect and Building News | 22 June 1966 | | | p1125-8 | | Builder | 20 November 1964 | | | p1074 | | Building | 7 February 1969 | | | p6/103 | | RIAS Newsletter | November 1993 | v4, no10 | | Death note | | RIAS Newsletter | December 1993 | v4, no11 | | Obituary |
Archive ReferencesThe following archives hold material relating to this : | | Source | Archive Name | Source Catalogue No. | Notes | | Courtesy of Bernat Klein | Interview of Bernat Klein by Jessica Taylor, 27 January 2009 at High Sunderland | | | | RIBA Archive, Victoria & Albert Museum | RIBA Nomination Papers | | A no14178, F no 5700 (Combined Box 95) |
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