Frank Alfred Tugwell was born in Scarborough, Yorkshire, England in July 1861. He was articled to John Hall in Scarborough in 1879 and worked in the office of Edward Robert Robson (1835-1917) from 1883 to 1886. He then went into partnership with Hall in Scarborough in 1886 and from 1897 to 1899 was in partnership with his brother, Sydney Tugwell (1869-1938) as F. A. & S. Tugwell.
Photographs of 'Hildercroft' in Sleights, near Whitby, a hall fireplace, and a garden entrance at 'Brookholme', Scarborough designed by Tugwell are illustrated in 'The Studio Yearbook of Decorative Art' 1907 (pp.41, 141, 181), and two photographs showing the entrance hall at 'Hildercroft in Sleights, near Whitby, are featured in 'The Studio Yearbook of Decorative Art' 1908 (illustrations B95, B96).
Tugwell became known primarily as a theatre and cinema architect.
He was elected an Associate of the Royal Institute of British Architects (ARIBA). Tugwell had offices in Scarborough all his working life. He died in Riding, Northumberland, England on 20 Mar 1940.
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