Charles Herbert Reilly

Sir Charles Herbert Reilly Born London, England 4 March, 1874, died London, 2 February 1948. He was a major figure in 20th century architecture in Britain. He was largely responsible for the championing and triumph of University training of architects, over the old system of apprenticeship. He was a powerful advocate of the American-style classicism and, later, European modernism^[1].

Education and early career

Charles Herbert Reilly was the son of architect and surveyor Charles Reilly (1844-1928). After graduating from Merchant Taylors' School, London and Queens' College, Cambridge,^[2] he worked for two years as an unpaid draughtsman at his father's office. He then entered the office of John Belcher (architect) as an 'improver'.

In 1898, he became an Associate of the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA). He was appointed part-time lecturer in architectural design at King's College London. During 1900 and joined in partnership with Stanley Peach, working on the design of electricity generating stations. In 1904 he was appointed Roscoe Professor of Architecture at the University of Liverpool. He was invited to join the RIBA Board of Architectural Education in 1906 and was elected to the Council of RIBA in 1909. Also in 1906, he acted as a consulting architect in the remodelling of 'Belmont' near Chesterfield.

Overseas visits and later career

During 1909, he first visited America, where he drew his inspiration from the American-style classicist architecture. In the same year, the Department of Civic Design was founded within the Liverpool School of Architecture. During 1910, he led a campaign against altering St George's Hall, Lime Street, Liverpool to accommodate a statue of Edward VII.

In 1919, he visited America and Canada and the following year visited twice as a jury member for the Canadian War Memorials competition. In 1925, he was appointed Corresponding Member of the American Institute of Architects. Further travels abroad took him to India with Edward Lutyens during 1927-28.

He was appointed Member of Faculty of Architecture at the British School in Rome in 1911, and the following year was made Fellow of the RIBA. He was appointed Vice-President of the RIBA in 1931. He retired as Director of the Liverpool School of Architecture in 1933 and the following year was created Emeritus Professor at the University of Liverpool. He was awarded the Royal Gold Medal for Architecture in 1943 and, in 1944 was Knighted.

Notable designs

• 1902 - Enters competition for the design of Liverpool Cathedral not built
• 1905 - Designs cottages at Lower Road, Port Sunlight for William Hesketh Lever.
• 1907 - Enters competition for the design of London County Hall not built
• 1907 - Designs Liverpool Students' Union, Ashton Street Liverpool not built
• 1909 - Designs Liverpool Students' Union, Bedford Street/Mount Pleasant, Liverpool
• 1909 - Designs Church of St Barnabas, Shacklewell, London
• 1911 - Designs Church of Humanity, Liverpool not built
• 1914 - Designs new building for the Liverpool University School of Architecture, Bedford Street, Liverpool not built
• 1916 - Remodels 8 Buckingham Street, Westminster
• 1920 - Designs Accrington War Memorial, Lancashire
• 1923 - Appointed co-architect, with Thomas Hastings, of Devonshire House, Piccadilly, London
• 1928 - Designs Durham War Memorial
• 1933 - The Leverhulme Building (new school premises) opens with Reilly as joint architect
• 1934 - Consultant Architect Peter Jones department store, Sloane Square and John Lewis (department store) Oxford Street, both London
• 1935 - Co-architect of extension to Liverpool Students' Union

Publications

• 1913 - Appointed Consulting Editor to the Builders' Journal
• 1921 - 'Some Liverpool Streets and Buildings'
• 1921 - (circa) Becomes Architectural Editor of Country Life magazine
• 1923 - (circa) 'Some Manchester Streets and Buildings'
• 1923 - (circa) 'McKim, Mead and White'
• 1923 - (circa) 'Some Architectural Problems of Today'
• 1931 - 'Representative Architects of the Present Day'
• 1932 - 'The Theory and Practice of Architecture'
• 1938 - 'Scaffolding in the Sky: A Semi-architectural Autobiography'
• 1946 - 'Architecture as a Communal Art'
• 1947 - 'Outline Plan for the County Borough of Birkenhead'

References

1. ^ "International architectural database entry on Reilly". http://eng.archinform.net/arch/8175.htm. Retrieved 2008-04-03. 
2. ^ Reilly, Charles Herbert in Venn, J. & J. A., Alumni Cantabrigienses, Cambridge University Press, 10 vols, 1922–1958.

• Crouch, Christopher Design culture in Liverpool, 1880 - 1914: The origins of the Liverpool School of Architecture, Liverpool: Liverpool University Press, 2002
• Richmond, Peter Marketing modernisms: The architecture and influence of Charles Reilly, Liverpool: Liverpool University Press, 2001