Aston Webb [also known as Sir Aston Webb] was born in Clapham, Surrey, England on 22 May 1849 and was the son of Edward Webb (1805-1854), a painter. He trained as an architect with Robert Richardson Banks (1812?-1872) and Charles Barry junior (1823-1900) from 1866 to 1871 He also attended classes at the Architectural Association in London. In 1871-72 he travelled on the Continent. In 1873 he was a Pugin Student. He commenced independent practice in London in 1874.
Over a period of twenty-five years he frequently collaborated on projects with Edward Ingress Bell (1837–1914) although they were never in partnership. Towards the end of his career he was also in partnership with his son, Maurice Everett Webb, (1880-1939) as Sir Aston Webb & Son [also known as. Webb & Webb, and as Sir Aston Webb & Maurice E. Webb]
Webb was elected an Associate of the Royal Institute of British Architects (ARIBA) in 1874 and a Fellow of the Royal Institute of British Architects (FRIBA) in 1883. He was also elected an Associate of the Royal Academy (ARA) in 1884 and a Royal Academician (RA) in 1903. He was President of the Architectural Association in 1881-82, President of the Royal Institute of British Architects from 1902 to 1904, and President the Royal Academy from 1919 to 1924. He was awarded the RIBA Royal Gold Medal in 1905, and the Inaugural Gold Medal of the American Institute of Architects in 1907 and was knighted in 1904.
Webb died at his home in Worthing, Sussex on 21 August 1930.
A biographical file on Aston Webb is available on request from the Enquiry Desk, Royal Institute of British Architects Library, London
Webb is principally known for the façade he designed for the Royal residence, Buckingham Palace in London (1913). Other notable architectural projects by him included Victoria Law Courts, Corporation Street, Birmingham (1887-91); Restoration and additions, St. Bartholomew-the-Great, Smithfield, City of London (c.1890-97); the main building at the Victoria & Albert Museum in London (1891-1909); French Protestant Church, 9 Soho Square, London (1893); Royal United Services Institute, Whitehall, Westminster, London (1893–95); Christ's Hospital school in Horsham, Sussex (1893–1902); St. Alban's Church, Margravine Road, Fulham, London ((1894-96); Mumford's Flower Mills, Greenwich High Road, Greenwich, London (1897); Britannia Royal Naval College, Dartmouth, Devon (1899-1905); Royal College of Science in South Kensington, London (1900–06); Imperial College of Science and Technology, Imperial Institute Road, Kensington, London (1900-06); the planning and design of many of the buildings for the University of Birmingham (1900-12); Lay-out of The Mall and rond-point in Front of Buckingham Palace, London; Thames Warehouse, Stamford Street, Southwark, London (1901); St. Michael's Court, Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge (1903); King's College, Cambridge (1908); Admiralty Arch, Westminster, London (1908–09); and Royal School of Mines in South Kensington, London (1909–13).
See also:
Source of Images
Cresswell, H. Bulkeley. 'A backward view'. Architect and Building News vol. 208, 11 August 1955 pp. 172-173 [Cresswell worked in Webb's office in the 1890s and 1900s]
Cresswell, H. Bulkeley. 'Seventy years back'. Architectural Review vol. 124, December 1958 pp. 403-405. [Reprinted as 'Sir Aston Webb and his office' in Edwardian Architecture and its Origins. Edited by Alastair Service. London: The Architectural Press Limited, 1975 pp. 328-337]
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
Dungavell, Ian Robert. The Architectural Career of Sir Aston Webb. Ph.D. thesis, University of London, 1999
Dungavell, Ian. ‘Two Arts and Crafts Interiors by Aston Webb’. The Journal of the Decorative Arts Society 1850 - the Present no. 21, 1997 pp. 103-115
Gray, A. Stuart. Edwardian architecture: a biographical dictionary. London: Gerald Duckworth & Co., Ltd., 1985
'Obituary. American Architect vol. 91, 26 January 1907 p. 53
'Obituary. Architectural Forum vol. 53, September 1930 p. 37
'Obituary. The Builder vol. 139, 29 August 1930 pp. 329, 330, 333
'Obituary. The Builder vol. 139, 5 September 1930 p. 380
'Obituary. The Builder vol. 139, 19 December 1930 p. 1034
'Obituary. Royal Institute of British Architects Journal vol. 37, 20 September 1930 pp. 710, 744
Ryan, Thomas Fitzgerald. The history and architecture of Sir Aston Webb's College of Science and Government Buildings, Dublin. M.A. thesis, University College Dublin, 1991
Service, Alastair. The Architects of London and their buildings from 1066 to the present. London: The Architectural Press, 1979
Who's Who in Architecture 1923. Edited by Frederick Chatterton. London: Architectural Press, 1923