Basic Biographical Details Name: | William Fowler Howitt | Designation: | | Born: | 22 May 1924 | Died: | February 2005 | Bio Notes: | William Fowler Howitt was born in Perth on 22 May 1924, the son of Frederick Howitt, postal clark, and his wife Isabel Strachan Fowler. He was educated at Perth Academy and studied at Dundee School of Architecture from September 1941 to 1948, his studies interrupted by war service from November 1943 to November 1946. In 1943 he was awarded the Lorimer Prize at the Colege of Art. He sat the final exams in June 1948 and was awarded an RIBA Victory Scholarship that year which enabled him to make a study tour of Italy. He was admitted ARIBA in 1949, proposed by John Needham, G Guy Wornum and Lawrence Scotland. His nomination paper describes him as a ‘brilliant student’.
He moved to work for Devon County Council Architects Department in 1948 and then from 1949 took a post in the office of Louis de Soissons & Partners, initially as assistant but later as senior assistant. There he worked on housing, flats, hotel, church and imperial war graves commissions. He gave an address in his home town Perth in 1950. In 1952 he transferred as chief assistant to the office of Vincent Kelly & Partners in Dublin where his work included housing, offices and hospitals. In July and August 1953 he made a study tour of Irish hospitals. In 1955 he secured the post of Architect to St Thomas' Hospital, Lambeth, London and made a study tour of European hospitals the following year. At St Thomas’s he was in overall charge of the building and any required building works, the post being the equivalent to that of a Regional Board architect. During this period he must have gained a reputation as an expert in hospital design. he was a guest lecturer at the University of Naples in February 1961 and in June of that year he was secretary of a discussion group at the Integrated Healthcare Association Conference in Venice. In July 1961 he was a contributor to a National Symposium on hospitals in Dundee and from 1958 to 1963 he was a contributor, adviser and lecturer to the King's Fund CCI at the Royal College of Nursing, at the Budding Centre. He was also a member of various professional bodies and published on hospital-related topics.
In 1964 he moved to the practice Easton, Robertson, Cusdin, Preston & Smith and from 1965 became a partner in the practice Cusdin, Burden & Howitt. He was responsible for the hospital work in the practice and at the time of his nomination for fellowship of the RIBA, proposed by William Holford, Sidney Edward Thomas Cusdin and John Needham he was working on the following projects: Addenbrookes, stage 2 (£9.5m), Belfast (£1.5m), Great Ormond Street (£350,000), the Royal Maternity hospital, Belfact, and the Royal Victoria Hospital as well as developing a standard operating theatre design for the Ministry of Health.
He was still in this partnership in 1987.
He died in Torbay, Devon in February 2005.
| Private and Business AddressesThe following private or business addresses are associated with this : | | Address | Type | Date from | Date to | Notes | | Barmekin, Cornhill Terrace, Perth, Perthshire, Scotland | Private(?) | Before 1948 * | After 1950 | | | 173, Rathgar Road, Dublin, Eire | Private | 1953 * | | | | 45, Lambeth Palace Road, London, England | Business | 1960 * | | | | 1/4, Yarmouth Place, Piccadilly, London, England | Business | 1965 * | After 1970 | | | Greencoat House/5th floor, Francis Street, London, England | Business | 1979 * | | | | 32, Gloucester Road, Teddington, Middlessex, England | Private(?) | 1994 * | | |
* earliest date known from documented sources.
Employment and TrainingEmployers
RIBARIBA Proposers
ReferencesBibliographic ReferencesThe following books contain references to this : | | Author(s) | Date | Title | Part | Publisher | Notes | | RIBA | 1950 | The RIBA Kalendar 1950-1951 | | London: Royal Institute of British Architects | | | RIBA | 1954 | RIBA Kalendar 1953-54 | | | | | RIBA | 1961 | Kalendar 1960-61 | | | | | RIBA | 1965 | The RIBA Kalendar | | | | | RIBA | 1970 | RIBA Directory 1970 | | | | | RIBA | 1979 | Directory of members | | | | | RIBA | 1987 | RIBA Directory of Members 1987 | | | | | RIBA | 1994 | A Directory of RIBA Members | | | |
Periodical ReferencesThe following periodicals contain references to this : | | Periodical Name | Date | Edition | Publisher | Notes | | Perthshire Advertiser | 15 May 1943 | | | p7 |
Archive ReferencesThe following archives hold material relating to this : | | Source | Archive Name | Source Catalogue No. | Notes | | England and Wales | Births, marriages and deaths | | | | National Archives (via Scotlands People) | Statutory births | | | | RIBA Archive, Victoria & Albert Museum | RIBA Nomination Papers | | A no10495, F no6208 (Combined Box 125) |
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