Sydney Tugwell was born in Scarborough, Yorkshire, England in 1869 and was articled to Edward John May (1853-1941) from 1885 to 1889. He then worked as an assistant to Gerald Callcott Horsley (1862-1917) and to Ernest Newton (1856-1922). He also attended the Royal Academy Schools in London from 1891 to 1894.
In c.1896-97 he was in partnership in Edinburgh with Harold Ogle Tarbolton (1869-1947). In 1897 Tugwell moved back to Scarborough in Yorkshire where he set up a new practice with his brother, Frank Alfred Tugwell (1861-1940), as F. A. & S. Tugwell. The partnership was dissolved in 1899 and in 1900 he relocated to Bournemouth in Dorset, where he was in practice for many years.
A drawing and two floor plans of a house at Radlett designed by Tugwell is illustrated in 'The Studio Yearbook of Decorative Art' 1907 (p.40); a photograph of the entrance hall in the Manor House, Upwey, Dorset designed by Tugwell is illustrated in 'The Studio Yearbook of Decorative Art' 1908 (illustration B94); and a photograph of the entrance hall of 'Schloss Heessen' in Westphalia, designed by Tugwell is illustrated in 'The Studio Yearbook of Decorative Art' 1912 (p.77).
Tugwell was elected an Associate of the Royal Institute of British Architects (ARIBA) in 1911 and a Fellow of the Royal Institute of British Architects (FRIBA) in 1919. He exhibited at the Walker Art Gallery in Liverpool, the the Royal Academy in London, and the Royal Scottish Academy in Edinburgh between 1894 and 1912. His address was given as 6 Austin friars, Granville Road, Scarborough in 1938. He died in Scarborough on 23 July 1938
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
'Obituary'. The Builder vol. 155, 5 August 1938 p. 343