Paul Waterhouse was the eldest son of the architect Alfred Waterhouse (1830-1905) and was born in Manchester, England on 29 October 1861. He studied at Balliol College, Oxford and trained as an architect with his father, Alfred Waterhouse (1830-1905) in 1880 and from 1884 to 1887. He then remained as his assistant. He passed his professional exams in 1888 and 1891 was taken into partnership by his father. as A. Waterhouse & Son. When, in 1901 Alfred Waterhouse had a severe stroke and was forced to retire, Paul Waterhouse took over the running of the practice. He worked alone until 1919 when he formed a partnership with his son, Michael Theodore Waterhouse (1888-1968).
He was elected an Associate of the Royal Institute of British Architects (ARIBA) in 1889 and a Fellow of the Royal Institute of British Architects (FRIBA) in 1895. He was President of the Royal Institute of British Architects (PRIBA) from 1921 to 1923. He was also ele4cted a member of the Art Workers Guild in 1913. In 1886 he was awarded the RIBA Silver Medal (Essays).
He is considered to have been an excellent draughtsman and illustrator. He illustrated Sacred Sites of the Gospals by William Sunday (1903).
Paul Waterhouse died at his home, Yattendon Court, in Yattendon Berkshire, on 19 December 1924. His practice was continued by his son, Michael Theodore Waterhouse.
Work by Paul Waterhouse independent of the partnership with his father included Whitworth Hall, University of Manchester (1902); Maurice Hotel in Hoxton, London (1902); Mount Melville House, St Andrews, Fife (1902–05); restoration of St. Ann's Church, St. Ann's Square, Manchester (1904-07); the London Salvage Corps in Watling Street, London (1905); the medical school and the nurses' home, University College, London (1905); the offices of the Royal National Pension Fund for Nurses, Buckingham Street, Strand, London (1906); the Lister Institute of Preventive Medicine, Chelsea Bridge Road, London (1908); John Morley Chemical Laboratories, University of Manchester (1909); new wards for the Bromley and District Hospital in Bromley, Kent (1910); Biological Laboratories, University of Manchester (1911); Botanical Laboratories, University of Manchester (1911); extension of Manchester Museum (1911–27); Chemical Laboratories at Oxford University (1913); Oxford University Union (1921); Yeovil and District Hospital in Yeovil, Somerset (1921); St Leonard's Hospital, Sudbury, Suffolk (1922); the St Regulus Club, Oxford University (1922); and the Younger commemoration hall (1925) at St Andrews University. He also designed several office buildings for the Prudential Assurance. Atlas Assurance and Refuge Assurance companies, and branches for Lloyds Bank and the Nation Provincial Bank.
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Laboratories for the Universities of Oxford, Leeds, and Manchester; the Lister Institute, Aldenham; University College Hospital Medical School and Nurses' Home; All Saints' Church, St. Andrew's, Fife; St. Francis' Church, Hammerfield; Convent of the Incarnation, Oxford; offices for the Atlas Assurance Co., Birmingham: Refuge Assurance Co., Manchester; Royal National Pension Fund for Nurses, Buckingham Street; Prudential Assurance Co. — Chief Office (London), and district offices at Aberdeen, Darlington, Doncaster, Dunfermline, Grimsby, Ipswich, Leicester, Middlesbrough, Sheffield, and Stockport; Head Office extension, and Baker Street alteration, for the National Provincial and Union Bank of England; branch banks (or Lloyds and National Provincial Foreign Bank at Paris and Brussels; London Salvage Corps: Chief Station, Watling Street. [Source: Who's Who in Architecture 1923]
Collingwood, Frances. 'Paul Waterhouse, 1861-1924'. The Builder vol. 201, 27 October 1961 pp. 774
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
Gray, A. Stuart. Edwardian architecture: a biographical dictionary. London: Gerald Duckworth & Co., Ltd., 1985
'Obituary'. American Institute of Architects Journal vol. 13, 1925 p. 77
'Obituary'. Architectural Review vol. 57, January 1925 p. 45
'Obituary'. The Builder vol. 127, 26 December 1924 pp. 1004, 1007
'Obituary'. Royal Institute of British Architects Journal vol. 32, 1925 pp. 141-142, 192, 202, 321-322
Waterhouse, Paul. Paul Waterhouse. A collection of certain of his papers and addresses. London: Oxford University Press, 1930
Who's Who in Architecture 1923. Edited by Frederick Chatterton: Architectural Press, 1923