Willie Richard Halstone Gardner was born in Forest Gate, Essex, England on 9 March 1884. By the early 1900s he was working as an architect's assistant, living with his parents in East Ham, Essex. It is not known where or with whom he he received his training.
He submitted an entry in a competition to design the Middle School for Boys and Girls in Tiverton, Devon. His designs are illustrated in British Competitions in Architecture vol. 2, no. 20, February 1909 p. 260.
By 1911 he was living in Winchester, Hampshire, where he was employed as a surveyor's assistant. By the early 1930s he had moved to Margate, Kent where he remained for the rest of his career as an architect.
Gardener was elected a Licentiate of the Royal Institute of British Architects (LRIBA) in 1931 and a Fellow of the Royal Institute of British Architects (FRIBA) in 1939. His address was given as 5 Pavement, High Road, Leyton, Essex in 1891; 7 Clements Road., East Ham, Essex in 1901; St. Briavels, Hatherley Road, Winchester, Hampshire in 1911; 38 Grosvenor Place, Margate, Kent in 1932; 9 Cecil Square, Margate, Kent in 1938 and 1939; and 10 Westonville Avenue, Margate, Kent in 1939 and 1962. He died on 22 January 1962.
The Northumberland Hotel in Margate. Kent (1938)
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
‘Obituary’. The Builder vol. 202, 2 February 1962 p. 253