Rowland Hawke Halls [commonly known as Rowland H. Halls] was born in Roffey, Sussex, England on 8 July 1879. He lived in Lewes, East Sussex and designed the town's council offices, a photograph of which is illustrated in 'The Studio Yearbook of Decorative Art' 1915 (p.131).
From 1906 Halls worked out of Seveirg Chambers, School Hill, Lewes, and opened an office in Seaford in 1911. He acted as the District Engineer for Sussex to L.G. Mouchel & Partners Ltd. of Westminster or some years.
During World War One he served in the Army Service Corps, 525 Company, 62nd Division and was promoted to 2nd Lieutenant in February 1917. He returned safely from the war and briefly resumed work in Lewes.
He exhibited a painting, "Cottage at Rottingdean", Sussex", at the Royal Academy in London in 1910. He was a member of the Brighton Guild of Applied Art and participated in their exhibition at Brighton Art Gallery in 1912.
Halls' address was given as Rowlands Farm Horsham, Sussex in 1881; 25 St. John's Terrace, St. John, Lewes, Sussex in 1901; Dyxcroft, Wallands Park, Lewes, Sussex in 1910; Rowlands, The Avenue, Lewes, Sussex in 1911; and Rowlands, East Blatchington, Seaford, Sussex in 1914. He died in Brighton, Sussex on 25 March 1919, as a result of injuries he sustained in a motorcycle accident. He is buried in St Margaret’s Church, Rottingdean, Sussex
Halls designed about 80 buildings, mainly in Rottingdean, Lewes and Seaford, Sussex. In Rottingdean four houses on Marine Drive are of note. In Lewes his work includes several houses on The Avenue, and the Municipal Offices on Fisher Street [now The Werks workspace]. In Seaford there are many houses on Firle Road, Blatchington Hill, Chyngton Road and Southdown Road. He designed two schools, Southdown and Kings Mead, both of which have been demolished. He was also known for his work as a church restorer.
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See also Buildings by Rowland H. Halls
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. 116, 4 April 1919 p. 321
'Obituary'. Ferro-Concrete. A Monthly Review vol. 10, 1919 p. 370
David Scott Cowan for a considerable amount of additional information about Rowland Hawke Halls