Howard Morley Robertson [also known as Sir Howard Robertson] was born in Salt Lake City, Utah, USA, on 16 August 1888 and studied architecture at the Architectural Association in London (1905-07) and at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts in Paris (1908-12). In 1913 he received a French Government Architectural Diploma. After serving in France during World War One (1915-19) he returned to England and in 1919 formed the architectural partnership Easton & Robertson with John Murray Easton (1889-1975). In c.1931 they formed a partnership with Edwin Stanley Hall (1881-1940).
Robertson was one of the contributors to the design of the United Nations Headquarters in New York City (1949). He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Institute of British Architects (FRIBA) in 1925. He was awarded the RIBA Gold Medal in 1949 and served as President of the Royal Institute of British Architects in 1952-53. In 1954 he was knighted for his services to architecture.
He was the author of several books and articles on aspects of architecture. He was married to Doris Howard Robertson formerly Doris Adeney Lewis (1898-1981) who was, herself, an architect and an Associate of the Royal Institute of British Architects (ARIBA). Howard Morley Robertson died in London on 5 May 1963.
By Eastern & Robertson: 'Old Bodnod' in North Wales (1920); Luckington Court in Wiltshire (1921); Fulmer Grange in Slough (1922); the pavilion, swimming pool and bathing station at Prestatyn in North Wales (1922-23); Watford Court in Northamptonshire (1924); the British Government Pavilions at Exposition Internationale des Arts Décoratifs et Industriels Modernes in Paris in 1925; the Golf House Hotel in Prestatyn, Wales (1925); the Royal Horticultural Society Hall in London (1928); and the remodelling of the Savoy Hotel in London (1930-39).
By Stanley Hall, Easton & Robertson: flats in Avenue Close, Hampstead, London (c.1937); a nurses' house at Elizabeth Garrett Anderson Hospital on Euston Road, London (c.1938); additions to the Hospital for Sick Children in Guilford Street, London (c.1938); the School of Anatomy, University of Cambridge (c.1938); the pavilion for Great Britain and its Possessions for the New York World’s Fair 1939-40; Loughton Station for the London Passenger Transport Board and London and North Eastern Railway (1941); the Oxford University Press building in Neasdon, London (c.1944); Hall died in 1940 but the name Stanley Hall Easton & Robertson was retained for a number of years. By c.1959 the name of the firm had changed to Easton & Robertson Cusdin Preston & Smith. Projects by Easton & Robertson Cusdin Preston & Smith included Middlesex Hospital Medical School in London (c.1960); laboratories for the Department of Chemical Engineering at the University of Cambridge (c.1960); an extension to the library at King's College, Newcastle (c.1960); the Shell Centre in London (1962); buildings for Addenbrooke's Hospital in Cambridge (c.1962); the International Hall of Residence, University of London (c.1963); Reading University Library (1964); and buildings for Princess Alexandra Hospital in Harlow, Essex (1965).
Banham, Rayner. ‘Howard Robertson’, Architectural Review vol. 114, 1953, pp. 161–168
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
Hanson, Brian. 'Howard Morley Robertson' in Macmillan Encyclopedia of Architects Volume 3. Edited by Adolf K. Plakzek. New York and London: Macmillan and Free Press, 1982 pp. 590-591 [Contains a list of Robertson's writings on architecture]
Harwood, Elain. Mid-Century Britain. Modern Architecture 1938-1963. London: Batsford, 2021 [Hatfield Technical College / University of Hertfordshire, Hatfield, Hertfordshire, 1948-52, by Howard Robertson of Easton & Robertson pp. 128-129]
Higgott, Andrew. ‘Travels in Modern architecture 1925-30: Howard Robertson & F R Yerbury’. AA Files no. 21, Spring 1991 pp. 60-69
‘Howard Robertson, president RIBA 1952/3, Royal Gold Medalist 1949’. RIBA Journal March 1949 pp. 215-219
‘Howard Robertson, president RIBA 1952/3, Royal Gold Medalist 1949’. Architectural Review September 1953 pp. 160-168
‘Howard Robertson, president RIBA 1952/3, Royal Gold Medalist 1949’. The Builder 7 January 1953 pp.4-6
Myerscough-Walker, Herbert Raymond. 'Building: ts planned development' The Builder 8 Movember 1940 pp. 426-428 [Robertson, together with George Hicks, M.P., respond to a series of questions on the building industry]
‘Obituary’. Architectural Association Journal vol. 79, July-August 1963 pp. 38-39
‘Obituary’. Architectural Forum vol. 118, June 1963 p. 13
‘Obituary’. The Builder vol. 204, 10 May 1963 p. 915
'Obituary'. Journal of the Royal Society of Arts vol. 111, no. 5083, June 1963 pp. 581-583
‘Obituary’. RIBA Journal vol. 80, 1963 pp. 247-248
Payne, Harold. 'The layman at bay'. Architectural Review vol. 65, May 1929 pp. 217-218 [A debate on modern architecture between Harold Payne and H. M. Robertson held at the Architectural Association Library]
Reilly, C. H. 'Howard Robertson’. Building March 1931, pp. 117–122
Robertson, Sir Howard Morley. Travels in modern architecture 1925-1930. London : Architectural Association, 1989.
Stamp, Gavin. 'Architecture: the Savoy Hotel has reinvented itself time and time again since it opened in 1889. But is the unlikely unity between the building's Victorian grandeur, Edwardian elegance and Jazz Age modernity maintained after its 220m [pounds sterling] restoration?' Apollo vol. 173, no. 583, January 1911 pp. 70+ [The Savoy Hotel, London designed by Howard Morley Robertson in 1929-30]
Whittick, Arnold. 'Howard Morley Robertson' in Contemporary Architects. Edited by Ann Lee Morgan and Colin Naylor. London and Chicago, Illinois: St. James Press, 2nd edition 1987 pp. 749-750