Robert Atkinson was born in Wigton, Cumbria, England, on 1 August 1883. He was articled to J. Harris of Nottingham (1898-1900) and attended Nottingham School of Art and University College, Nottingham [now Nottingham University]. Atkinson was elected an Associate of the Royal Institute of British Architects (ARIBA) in 1910 (by which time he had moved to London), and a Fellow of the Royal Institute of British Architects (FRIBA) in 1915. He was Principal of the Architectural Association Architecture School in London from 1924 to 1930. In 1932, he became a director of the Building Centre.
Projects by Atkinson include the Regent Theatre, one of the first super-cinemas in England, which opened in Brighton, Sussex, in July 1921; Imhof House in London (1929-30); interiors for the ‘Daily Express’ Building (1929-32); the Barber Institurte of Fine Art in Birmingham, England (1939); and the Canadian Red Cross Memorial Hospital at Cliveden, England (1939). Photographs of 'type D' and 'type D' houses on Percy Lodge Estate, East Sheen, and of a house at Carshalton, Surrey, designed by Atkinson are illustrated in 'Decorative Art' 1928 (pp.8, 9, 10, 11, 51); a photograph and floor plan of a house at Trebetherick in Cornwall are illustrated in 'Decorative Art' 1931 (p.160); two photographs and a floor plan of a house in Oxted, Surrey designed by him are illustrated in 'Decorative Art' 1934 (p.20); and a photograph of the doors of the Electricity Showrooms in Croydon, Surrey, designed by him is illustrated in 'Decorative Art' 1942 (p.50).
In c.1908 Atkinson formed a partnership with George Luard Alexander (1883-1917). They designed a number of cinemas including the Aberdeen Picture House, The New Picture House in Edinburgh, and the Wolverhampton Picture House. Alexander was killed in 1917 while serving in the Army in France during World War One. Atkinson was subsequently in partnership with Alexander Frederick Berenbruck Anderson (1888-1968) from 1924 to the late 1940s.
In addition to his work as an architect, Atkinson was also a painter and and fine draughtsman. He exhibited frequently at the Royal Academy in London. He also exhibited at the Royal Glasgow Institute of the Fine Arts, and at the Royal Scottish Academy in Edinburgh. Drawings by Atkinson are discussed in Architectural Review January 1911 (pp.30-37). He died in London on 26 December 1952.
Bath Improvement Scheme; Regent Theatre, Brighton; St. Katherine's Church, Hammersmith, etc., etc. [Source: Who's Who in Architecture 1923]
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Royal Victoria Pavilion, Ramsgate ; Carnegie Library, Ramsgate ; decoration and alteration of Assembly Rooms, Bath ; Repertory Theatre, Liverpool ; Duchy of Cornwall Estate, Kennington ; Domanston Housing Scheme, Redcar, Yorks (with L. P. Abercrombie) ; Worthing Pavilion ; Housing Scheme at Newburn-on-Tyne (with Harvey and Wicks, of Birmingham) ; Dover Housing Scheme (with Percy Bond Houfton); Totnes Housing Scheme. [Source: Marriott, Charles. Modern English Architecture. London: Chapman & Hall, 1924 p. 228]
Atkinson, Robert and Anderson, A. F. B. Anderson. 'Hospital for the Canadian Red Cross' Architecture Illustrated October 1942 pp. 115-125 [Hospital designed for the Candian Red Cross in England by Atkinson and Anderson]
Chermayeff, Serge. 'The new building for the Daily Express' Architectural Review [London] vol. 72, July 1932 pp. 3-12 [Discusses the entrance designed by Robert Atkinson for the Daily Express Building in London]
‘The Colman Galleries, Norwich; Architects: Robert Atkinson, H. C. Boardman.’ Building June 1952 pp. 284-288
Darling, Elizabeth. ‘Kensal House: the Housing Consultant and the Housed’ in British Architecture and Design in the 1930s. Edited Suannah Charlton, Elain Harwood and Alan Powers. The Journal of the Twentieth Century Society, no. 8, 2007 pp.106-116
Directory of British Architects 1834-1914. Compiled by Antonia Brodie, et al. Volume 1: A-K. London; New York: British Architectural Library, Royal Institute of British Architects/Continuum, 2001
‘Electricity offices and showrooms, Croydon' Architecture Illustrated February 1943 pp. 15-24 [Architects: Robert Atkinson and A. F. B. Anderson]
‘Gibraltar housing' Building July 1949 pp. 254-259 [Architects: Robert Atkinson and A. F. B. Anderson]
'Government housing scheme, Gibraltar' The Builder 14 January 1949 pp. 67-70 [Architects: R. Atkinson and A. F. B. Anderson]
‘Gibraltar housing scheme [flat blocks]'. RIBA Journal July 1946 pp. 395-400 [Architects: R. Atkinson & A. F. B. Anderson].
Harwood, Elain. Art Deco Britain: Buildings of the Interwar Years. London: Batsford, 2019
Harwood, Elain. Mid-Century Britain: Modern Architecture 1938-1963. London: Batsford, 2021
'Head offices for the Gas Light & Coke Co, London'. Architectural Design & Construction June 1942 p. 121 [Designed by: Robert Atkinson & A. F. B. Anderson]
'Head offices for the Gas Light & Coke Co, London.' Architecture Illustrated May 1942 p. 59 [Designed by: Robert Atkinson & A. F. B. Anderson]
'Hospital in England for Canadian Red Cross'. The Builder 15 January 1915 pp. 62-67
House, John. ‘Regent Brighton; Architect (1921): Robert Atkinson’. Picture House no. 10, Spring 1987 pp. 10-14
Ison, Walter. ‘The Regent, Brighton: 'Europe's wonder house of entertainment'; Architects of cinema which opened in 1921: Robert Atkinson’. Decorative Arts Society Journal no. 6, 1981, p. 31-36
Marriott, Charles. Modern English Architecture. London: Chapman & Hall, 1924
'Naval Trust cinema at Gibraltar; Architect: Robert Atkinson.' Building Match 1951 pp. 100-105
'Obituary'. Architect & Building News vol. 203, 8 January 1953 p. 33
'Obituary'. Architects' Journal vol. 117, 2 January 1953 p. 6
'Obituary'. Architectural Association Journal vol. 68, April 1953 p. 176
'Obituary'. The Builder vol. 184, 1953 p. 21
'Obituary'. Royal Institute of British Architects Journal vol. 60, January 1953 p. 117
Oswald, A. 'A Wren church reborn [All Hallows, Lombard Street, London]: fittings now in, and tower rebuilt as part of, All Hallows Twickenham; Architect: Robert Atkinson.' Country Life 2 November 1951 pp. 1464-1465
Powers, Alan, Spencer-Longhurst, Paul and Stamp, Gavin. Robert Atkinson 1883-1952. London: Architectural Association, 1989
Reilly, C. H. Representative British Architects of the Present Day. London: B. T. Batsford, 1931 [Chapter II. Robert Atkinson pp. 28-39]
Sharp, Dennis. 'An English eclectic'. Building Design no. 958, 20 October 1989 p. 25 [Report on an exhibition of the work of Robert Atkinson at the Architectural Association in London]
'Stockleigh Hall, Regent's Park. A block of luxury flats awarded the R. I. B. A. London Architecture Medal, 1938'. Architect & Building News May 20 1938 p.210 [Architects: Robert Atkinson and A. F. B. Anderson. Also, by Robert Atkinson, Oslo Court, Regent's Park]
'Vestry, Cathedral of the Holy Trinity, Gibraltar; Architect: Robert Atkinson'. Building March 1952 pp. 91-92
Yerbury, F. R. 'Robert Atkinson'. AA Journal February 1953 pp. 119-121