Grenfell-Baines, George 1908 - 2003

George Grenfell-Baines [also known as George Grenfell Baines] was born George Baines in Preston, Lancashire, England on 30 April 1908 and was the son of Ernest Charles Baines (1894-?), a railway clerk and Sarah Elizabeth Grenfell (c.1885-?) 0n 30 April 1908. At the age of fourteen, he left school to work in the office of a local rating surveyor, where his talent as a draughtsman was recognised and he was advised to train as an architect. After briefly working as a junior trainee in the Lancashire County Architect's department, he moved to the office of the architects Bradshaw, Gass & Hope in Bolton, Lancashire who further encouraged him to qualify as an architect. He subsequently entered Manchester University School of Architecture. He graduated in 1936 and was awarded the Heywood Medal as the most outstanding student of his year. He was also elected an Associate of the Royal Institute of British Architects (ARIBA) in 1936.

In 1938 he formed the Grenfell Baines Group, a loose alliance of his practice and that of two other practices, George Broadbent and Harry Walters. The group shared an office, the facilities and the profits. During World War Two the group worked on a number of war production commissions for the English Electric Company.

Following the war, the Grenfell Baines Group was renamed Grenfell Baines & Hargreaves. The practice worked on a wide range of projects in the education, retail and commercial sectors during the post-war years. Meanwhile, Grenfell-Baines was commissioned to design the Power and Production Pavilion for the 1951 Festival of Britain.

In 1961, with architects Bill White and John Wilkinson, quantity surveyor Arnold Towler and eight associate partners, Grenfell-Baines established the Building Design Partnership, a firm of architects and engineers based in Manchester which by the early 2020s employed a staff of over 900.

In 1972 Grenfell-Baines began teaching at Sheffield University and from 1974 to 1978 was Professor of Architecture. He also lectured at universities in the USA, Canada and elsewhere. He was knighted for his services to architecture in 1978 and in 1981 was made an honorary fellow of the American Institute of Architects. He died in Preston, Lancashire on 9 May 2003

A biographical file on George Grenfell-Baines is available on request from the Enquiry Desk, Royal Institute of British Architects Library, London.