Reginald Uren
Reginald Harold Uren | |
---|---|
![]() Hornsey Town Hall, 1933: Uren's first major commission
|
|
Born | Petone, North Island, New Zealand |
5 March 1906
Died | Script error: The function "death_date_and_age" does not exist. Newmarket, New Zealand |
Occupation | Architect |
Awards | RIBA London Architecture Medal, 1935 (awarded 1936) New Zealand Institute of Architects Award of Merit, 1965 |
Buildings | Hornsey Town Hall, Granada Cinema in Woolwich, Sanderson Building |
Reginald Harold Uren FRIBA (5 March 1906 – 17 February 1988) was a New Zealand-born architect who worked in the United Kingdom for most of his career.
Life and work
Uren was born in Petone, North Island on 5 March 1906,[1] the son of Richard Ellis Uren and Christina Uren.[2] He qualified as an architect in New Zealand in 1929, before moving to Britain to further his career; working his passage as a greaser in the engine room of a steamer to do so.[2] He married Dorothy Morgan in 1930 and the couple had one daughter.[2]
In Britain, Uren briefly studied architect at the University of London and under Charles Holden.[1][3] He became an Associate Member of the Royal Institute of British Architects in 1931.[1]
In 1933, he won the architectural competition to design Hornsey Town Hall against a field of 281 entries.[1] The town hall was his first major commission in Britain and one of the first large modernist designs constructed in the country, showing influences of Dutch and Swedish architecture of the period.[2][4] The design was well received and Uren was awarded the RIBA London Architecture Medal for 1935.[5]
![](/w/images/thumb/4/4f/John_Lewis%2C_Oxford_Street.jpg/300px-John_Lewis%2C_Oxford_Street.jpg)
In 1936, Uren became a partner in the practice of Slater, Moberley & Uren; later Slater, Uren and Pike.[1][2] The practice specialised in the design of department stores including the Oxford Street store of John Lewis (1955) and the extension of Peter Jones in Sloane Square (1966).[2] He also designed the Arthur Sanderson & Sons Building (1958, now the Sanderson Hotel) in Berners Street.[1]
For the London Passenger Transport Board's 1930s extensions of the Piccadilly and Northern lines, Uren worked with Charles Holden on the design of two new station buildings at Rayners Lane (1938) and Finchley Central (unbuilt).[6] Other public buildings designed by Uren include the Granada Cinema at Woolwich (1937, with Cecil Masey and Theodore Komisarjevsky), St George's Swimming Pools in Shadwell (1965) and Norfolk County Hall (1966).[7][8][9]
Uren retired from practice in 1967 and returned to New Zealand where he died in 1988.[2]
Legacy
A number of Uren's commissions are recognised as architecturally significant and are listed for protection against uncontrolled alteration. Hornsey Town Hall, the Sanderson Building and the Granada Cinema in Woolwich are listed Grade II* and Rayners Lane station is listed Grade II.[3][10][11][12]
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.(subscription required)
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 2.6 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.(subscription required)
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.(subscription required)
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.(subscription required)
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
External links
![]() |
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Reginald Uren. |
- Pages containing links to subscription-only content
- Use dmy dates from October 2014
- Articles with hCards
- Commons category link is locally defined
- 1906 births
- 1988 deaths
- New Zealand architects
- Fellows of the Royal Institute of British Architects
- History of the London Underground
- Modernist architects
- People associated with transport in London
- People from Petone
- Transport design in London
- 20th-century New Zealand architects
- People educated at Hutt Valley High School
- 20th-century British architects