Albert Edward Richardson [also known as Sir Albert Edward Richardson] was born in Hackney, London, England on 19 May 1880. He was articled to Victor R. Page from 1896 to 1898, and was an assistant to Evelyn A. Hellicar (1862-1949) from 1899 to 1902, Leonard Stokes in 1902-03, and Frank Thomas Verity (1864-1937) from 1904 to 1907. He also studied architecture at Birkbeck College (University of London) and Regent Street Polytechnic.
In 1906 he established an independent practice while still an assistant of Verity, and from c.1906 to 1939 was in partnership with Charles Lovett Gill (1880-1960) as Richardson & Gill. In 1945 he formed a partnership with his son-in-law Eric Alfred Scholefield (E.A.S.) Houfe (1911-1993) as Richardson & Houfe.
Richardson was a professor at the Bartlett School of Architecture, University College London from 1919 to 1946. He was the author of numerous books and articles on architecture and architectural history.
He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Institute of British Architects (FRIBA) in 1913 and was Vice-President of the RIBA in 1937-38. He was also elected a member of the Art Workers' Guild (AWG) in 1938 and was Master of the AWG in 1943.
He exhibited frequently at the Royal Academy in London from 1906 to 1964, and jointly with Charles Lovett Gill from 1924 to 1939. He was elected an Associate of the Royal Academy (ARA) in 1936 and a Royal Academician (RA) in 1944. He was President of the Royal Academy from 1954 to 1956.
He was awarded the RIBA London Architecture Bronze Medal in 1931 and the RIBA Royal Gold Medal in 1947. In 1956 he was knighted for his services to architecture
The catalogues of the Royal Academy Summer Exhibitions give Richardson's address as 15 Denning Road, Hampstead, London in 1906 and 1907; Canendish House, St. Albans, Hertfordshire in 1910; 41 Russell Square in 1923 and 1940; Avenue House, Ampthill, Bedfordshire in 1941 and 1947; 31 Old Burlington Street, London in 1948 and 1954; Avenue House, Ampthill, Bedfordshire in 1955; 24 Queen Anne Street, London in 1956 and 1962; and Avenue House, Ampthill, Bedfordshire. He died at Ampthill, Bedfordshire on 3 February 1964.
A biographical file on Albert Edward Richardson is available on request from the Enquiry Desk, Royal Institute of British Architects Library, London.
Architectural works by Richardson and his office included 10 and 19 Berkely Street, London, with Gill (c.1910); New Theatre, Manchester (1912); cottages in Fordington, Dorset, and Princetown, Devon, with Gill (1912-30); Moorgate Hall, 83-93 Moorgate, City of London, with Gill (1914-16); buildings for University College London (1923-49); Dulverton Town Hall (1927); Clifton House, London (1936-37); the Jockey Club in Newmarket, Suffolk (1937); Holy Cross Church in Greenford, Middlesex (1939-41); the Town Hall in Higham Ferrers (1943); the Associated Electrical and Industries Building in London (1954-59); the Wolfson Building, St. Hilda's College, Oxford (1954-61); Bracken House ('Financial Times' Building), London (1956-59); and the AEI building, Grosvenor Place, London (1958).
See also
Historic England - entries listed as A. E. Richardson
Historic England - entries listed as Albert Edward Richardson
Source of Images
Brewster, John. ‘Restoration of St. James's Church, Piccadilly’. [Architects: A. E. Richardson & E. A. S. Houfe]. RIBA Journal September 1954 pp. 452-454
Brewster, John. ‘St. James's Church, Piccadilly: work of restoration exactly according to Wren's design’ [Architects: A. E. Richardson & E. A. S. Houfe] The Builder 5 October 1951 pp. 441-444
Clifford, Henry Dalton. ‘Modern house in Georgian tradition, Weston Patrick, Hampshire; Architect: Sir Albert Richardson’. Country Life 13 October 1960 pp. 816, 818
Cornwell, Simon. ‘The Richardson Candles, Cambridge’. [Discusses street lighting designed by A.E. Richardson and installed in central Cambridge in 1957] Twentieth Century Architecture no. 11, 2013, pp. 98-101.
Curl, James Stevens. Dictionary of Architecture. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 3rd edition, 2015
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
Fulford, Roger. 'The Sedburgh School Library'. Country Life vol. 124, 10 July 1958 pp. 80-81 [A report on the remodelling of the library of Sedburgh School in Yorkshire by Richardson]
Goulden, Gontran. 'Sir Albert Richardson'. Architect and Building News vol. 225, 12 February 1964 pp. 255-256
Goulden, Gontran. ‘Sir Albert Richardson’. AA Journal March 1964 p.252
Goulden, Gontran. ‘Sir Albert Richardson’. The Builder vol. 206, 7 February 1964 pp. 273-274
Houfe, Simon. Sir Albert Richardson: the Professor. Luton : White Crescent Press, 1980.
Houfe, Simon. ’The professor remembered: Sir Albert Richardson’. RIBA Journal vol. 87, no. 12, December 1980 pp. 43-46.
Houfe, Simon; Powers, Alan and Wilton-Ely, John. Sir Albert Richardson 1880-1964. [Published on the occasion of the exhibition `Sir Albert Richardson' at the RIBA Heinz Gallery, London] London : RIBA Heinz Gallery, 1999.
Howling, G. T. 'Restoration of St. Alfege's Greenwich'. The Builder vol. 182, 14 March 1952 pp. 401-405 [A report on the rebuilding of St. Alfege's church in Greenwich, which was virtually destroyed in an air raid on 19 March 1941]
Hurst, Simon. ‘Sir Albert Richardson, 1880-1964’. Architects’ Journal vol. 210, no. 12, 30 September 1999 pp. 40-41.
Hussey, Christopher. 'Woburn Abbey, Bedfordshire'. Country Life vol. 118, 1 September 1955 pp. 434-437 [Part one of a two-part article on the restoration of Woburn Abbey in Bedfordshire by Richardson]
Hussey, Christopher. 'Woburn Abbey, Bedfordshire'. Country Life vol. 118, 8 September 1955 pp. 489-491 [Part two of a two-part article on the restoration of Woburn Abbey in Bedfordshire by Richardson]
Miers, Mary’ Out to lunch with the professor’. [A. E. Richardson] Country Life vol. 193, no. 39, 30 September 1999 pp. 96-97.
Oswald, Arthur. ‘Trinity House [London] restored’. [Architect A. E. Richardson] Country Life 22 October 1953 pp. 1288-1291
Palin, William. ‘Trinity House’ [Discusses the reconstruction in 1952-53 of the bomb-damaged London headquarters of the Corporation of Trinity House in London by A.E. Richardson] Country Life vol. 200, no. 31, 3 August 2006 pp. 50-53.
Robinson, John Martin. ‘The soul of horseracing. The Jockey Club Rooms, Newmarket, Suffolk’. [Designed by Albert Richardson and C Lovett Gill in 1932-34] Country Life vol. 203, no. 39, 30 September 2009 pp. 72-76.
Stamp, Gavin. ‘Architecture: Sir Albert Richardson’. Apollo vol. 178, no. 614, November 2013 pp. 100-101.
Taylor, Nicholas. 'Sir Albert Richardson: the classic case of Edwardianism' in Edwardian Architecture and its Origins. Edited by Alastair Service. London: The Architectural Press Ltd., 1975 pp. 444-459 [Article originally written two years before Richardson's death]
'Cathedral church, York new library’ [Architect: A. E. Richardson] The Builder 17 May 1946 p.484
'Chancery Lane, London, safe deposit’ [Architect: A. E. Richardson]. The Builder 24 July 1953 p. 127
‘Memorial in Westminster Abbey (Henry VII Chapel) to the Battle of Britain’ [Architect: A. E. Richardson]. The Builder 11 July 1947 pp. 32-35
‘Memorial shelter to Sir Lawrence Chubb erected at Ken Wood; Designed by: A. E. Richardson, with E. A. Houfe’. The Builder 19 September 1952 p. 390.
North London Collegiate (secondary) School, Edgware, incorporating the Georgian mansion, Canons Park’ [Architect: A. E. Richardson]. The Builder 21 November 1941 pp. 458-464
‘Notes from the sketch-books of Sir Albert Richardson, P.P.R.A. (1880-1964)’. House & Garden April 1964 pp. 49-52
‘Prof Richardson at home’ [Avenue House, Ampthill, Bedfordshire] The Builder November 1943 pp. 278-279
‘Reconstruction of dome of University College, London’ Architects: A. E. Richardson & E. A. S. Houfe]. Wood June 1949 pp. 164-169
‘Restoration and new buildings of Trinity House, Tower Hill, London: includes a new Banqueting Hall and Library’ ]Architects: A. E. Richardson & E. A. S. Houfe]. The Builder 23 April 1954 pp. 712-718
‘Restoration of St. Alfege's Church, Greenwich’ [Architects: A. E. Richardson & E. A. S. Houfe. Original architect: Nicholas Hawksmoor]. The Builder 14 March 1952 pp. 401-405
‘Shop-front added to house in Georgian style, for Messrs. Tiranti, Charlotte Street, London’ [Architects: A. E. Richardson & E. A. S. Houfe]. The Builder 14 September 1951 p. 342