Thomas William Fello Atkinson [commonly known as Fello Atkinson] was born in Lowestoft, Suffolk, England in 1919 and entered the Architectural Association School of Architecture and School of Planning in London in 1936. His studies were interrupted by the outbreak of World War Two in which he served in the Royal Navy for five years. Following the war he returned to the AA. He was awarded his Dip.AA in 1947 and the same year was elected an Associate of the Royal Institute of British Architects (ARIBA). In 1947-48 he worked as an assistant architect with East Kirkbright Development Corporation. In 1949, with fellow Architectural Association graduates James Cubitt (1914-1983), Stefan Buzás (1915-2008) and Richard Macleod Maitland (1917-1976) he formed James Cubitt & Partners (later renamed James Cubitt Fello Atkinson & Partners Ltd.) He subsequently remained with the firm for the rest of his career as architect. During the 1950s Atkinson worked briefly in a branch of Cubitt at the Gold Coast. He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Institute of British Architects (FRIBA) in 1968
Atkinson taught at Kingston School of Art, Harvard University, Massachusetts Institute of Technology and at the Architectural Association School.
He died in London on 12 September 1982
Mills, Edward David. The New Architecture in Britain 1946-1953. London: The Standard Catalogue Co., 1953 [Discusses the South Africa Centre in Piccadilly, London designed by James Cubitt, Stefan Buzas, Fello Atkinson and Richard Macleod Maitland of James Cubitt & Partners pp. 171-177]