Basil Luke Ionides [commonly known as Basil Ionides] was born in London, England [or Scotland - sources differ] on 20 June 1884 and was articled to Alexander Nisbett Paterson (1862-1947) in Glasgow, Scotland, from 1900 to 1904 or 1905, during which time he also attended Glasgow School of Art from 1900 to 1903. After completion of his articles he worked as an assistant in the offices of Harold Ainsworth Peto (1854-1933) and Leonard Aloysius Scott Stokes (1858-1925) in London.
Ionides commenced independent practice in Hadlow Down, East Sussex in 1908. He designed a number of houses and worked on the restoration of Beeleigh Abbey near Maldon in Essex, and Yakes Court in Sittingbourne, Kent.
During World War One he served in the Navy and was injured in 1917. Following the war he worked primarily as an interior designer, associated with the Art Deco style. In 1929 he redesigned the interiors of the Savoy Theatre and Claridge's Hotel in London.
Ionides was the author of two successful books on interior design: 'Colour and Interior Decoration' (1926) and 'Colour in Everyday Rooms' (1934). He 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 1938. He died in Brighton, Sussex, on 23 September 1950.
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
Harwood, Elain. Art Deco Britain: Buildings of the Interwar Years. London: Batsford, 2019
‘Obituary’. The Builder vol. 179, 29 September 1950 pp. 358
‘Obituary’. The Builder vol. 179, 29 November 1950 pp. 34748
‘Obituary’. RIBA Journal vol. 58, November 1953 p. 35