Denis Lucien Clarke Hall [commonly known as Denis Clarke Hall; also known as Denis Clarke-Hall] was born in Hornchurch, Essex, England on 4 July 1910. He entered the at the Architectural Association Schools in London in 1931. After graduating in 1936 he worked for the architect Clive Entwistle (1916-1976) who made him aware of the Modern Architectural Research Group (MARS) which he subsequently joined. Clarke Hall qualified as an architect in 1937 and that year won a competition sponsored by the progressive News Chronicle to design an ideal secondary school. This led to a commission to design Richmond Girls' High School from the Education Officer for the North Riding of Yorkshire. From then on he began to specialise in school architecture and established a practice in London.
During World War Two, Clarke Hall worked in liaison with the Ministry of Education and was a member of the Wood Committee set up by the Ministry to explore the construction and layouts for the new schools needed after the war.
Following the war he resumed his private architectural practice in London and continued his work in the education sector. A secondary schoolroom designed by Clarke Hall was displayed in the Furnished Rooms Section at the 'Britain Can Make It' exhibition at the Victoria & Albert Museum in London in 1946.
In 1950 he invited the architect Sam Scorer(1923-2003) to join him in partnership. Roy Bright also joined the practice which became Denis Clarke Hall Scorer & Bright. In 1954 the firm opened a second office in Lincoln, Lincolnshire.
Between 1948 and 1973 Clark Hall and his office designed 27 schools for 11 different local authorities.
In addition to the design of school buildings, notable architectural projects by Clarke Hall and Denis Clarke Hall Scorer & Bright included Medway Court, a block of flats near St. Pancras Station in London (1949-55); a motor showroom (now Lincolnshire County Library) in Lincoln, Lincolnshire (1959) and the St. John the Baptist church in Lincoln, Lincolnshire (1962-63)
Clark Hall was elected Associate of the Royal Institute of British Architects (ARIBA) in 1936 and a Fellow of the Royal Institute of British Architects (FRIBA) in 1946. He was President of the Architectural Association in 1958-59, and Chairman of the Architects Registration Council of the UK 1963-64. He died in Ipling, West Sussex on 31 July 2006
'Denis Clarke Hall' Architectural Association Journal vol. 74, June 1958 pp.3-5 [Contains a list of Clarke Hall's main commissions
Powers, Alan. Modern. The Modern Movement in Britain. London: Merrell, 2005
Thirties: British Art and Design before the War. London: Arts Council of Great Britain, 1979 [Catalogue of an exhibition at the Hayward Gallery, London, 25 October-13 January 1979]