Herbert Austen Hall [name sometimes given, incorrectly, as Herbert Austin Hall] was born on 20 February 1882 and was articled to Philip Henry Tree (1848-1922) in 1897 and remained with him as his assistant. He was also assistant to Thomas Ball Silcock (1845-1924) and Samuel Sebastian Reay (c.1867-1933) of Silcock & Reay in Bath in 1900-01; to Henry John Treadwell (1861-1910) and Leonard Martin (1869-1936) of Treadwell & Martin in 1902; to Arthur John Gale (1857-?); to Henry Tanner, junior (1876-1947) in 1903; and to the LCC Architects' Department in 1904.
Hall qualified as an architect in 1903. He commenced independent practice in London in 1905 and from 1905 to 1913 was in partnership with Septimus Warwick in the London-based architectural firm Warwick & Hall. He was later in partnership with Thomas Bostock Whinney (1860-1926) and Humphrey Charles Dickens Whinney (1899-1982) in the London firm Whinney, Son & Austin Hall.
Following World War Two, Hall was engaged on a number of rebuilding projects, including Carpenters' and Clothworkers' Halls in London.
Hall was elected an Associate of the Royal Institute of British Architects (ARIBA) in 1904 and a Fellow of the Royal Institute of British Architects FRIBA) in 1913.
His address was given as Old Park, Southgate, London and 3 Verulam Buildings, Grays Inn, London in 1904; 26 Theobalds Road, London in 1905; 13 South Square, Grays Inn, London in 1912 and 1914; 6 Canning Place, Kensington, London in 1914; 6, New Burlington Street in 1923; 8, Old Jewry, London in 1926; 27, Lansdowne Road, London in 1926 and 1930; and 33 Princes Gate Court, London and 278 Norfolk Street, Stand, London in 1935 and 1939. He died on 15 February 1968.
The following in partnership with Septimus Warwick: Lambeth Municipal Buildings; Holborn Town Hall; Reading County Offices; St. George's House Perth, W.A.; Sylvester House, Hackney; Gosport Gas Offices; houses, Tunbridge Wells, Brighton, Bray, Romford, and Co. Meath; Cold Storage, Ganton Street, London, W. with T. P. & E. S. Clarkson: — Peter Robinson's premises; with Mr. Whinney: — Branch offices for the Midland Bank. Other important works carried out without a partner Include: New Central Offices for the Metropolitan Water Board, Rosebery Avenue, London; showrooms for the Gas Light and Coke Co., London. [Source: Who's Who in Architecture 1926]
Directory of British Architects 1834-1914. Compiled by Antonia Brodie, et al. Volume 2: L-Z. London; New York: British Architectural Library, Royal Institute of British Architects/Continuum, 2001
Marriott, Charles. Modern English Architecture. London: Chapman & Hall, 1924
‘Obituary’. Building vol. 214, 23 February 1968 p. 75