Robert Wemyss Symonds was born in London, England on 31 December 1889 and was active as an architect and interior designer in England from the 1920s onwards. Between 1927 and 1931 he was in partnership with Robert Lutyens (1901-1972) in the London-based architectural and interior design firm Symonds & Lutyens.
During the late 1930s and early 1940s Symonds was senior partner in the architectural and interior design firm R. W. Symonds & Partner. Their office was located at 29 Bruton Street, Berkeley Square, London. Photographs of several examples of work by the practice are illustrated in Decorative Art vol. 34, 1939 pp. 28, 45, 46, 58, 91, 97; and Decorative Art, vol. 35, 1940 (pp. 65, 81, 82, 84, 101.
Symonds was consultant architect for the rebuilding of Middlesex Hospital from 1931 and 1934, and for St Swithin's House in London from 1949 to 1953. He was author of several books on the history of English furniture.
He was elected a Licentiate of the Royal Institute of British Architects (LRIBA) in 1937, and a Fellow of the Royal Institute of British Architects (FRIBA) in 1950. He died in Peasenhall, Suffolk on 5 September 1958
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
Evans, Virginia. ‘Recollections of Robert W. Symonds’. Furniture History vol. 11, 1975 pp. 83-87
‘Obituary’. The Builder vol. 195, 12 September 1958 p. 426
‘Obituary’. RIBA Journal vol. 66, September 1959 pp. 408-409
Streeter, Colin and Barker, Margaret. ‘A bibliography of publications by Robert Wemyss Symonds’ Furniture History vol. 11, 1975 pp. 88-107