Harry Bell Measures

Redford Cavalry Barracks, Edinburgh

Harry Bell Measures CBE MVO (1862–1940) was an English architect.

Career

He had a varied career. In 1884 to 1892 he was in-house architect for William Willett, producing high-quality housing for the well-heeled in London and South East England; these were normally in the ornate red-brick Queen Anne style that was popular at the time.

He was responsible for a number of English "improved" housing developments for working men, such as the Rowton Houses in London and Birmingham. He designed the original station buildings for the Central London Railway, now the Central line of London Underground, which opened on 30 July 1900.

He was later the Director of Barrack Construction for the British War Office and was responsible for buildings such as Redford Barracks in Edinburgh. He was appointed a Commander of the Order of the British Empire in the 1918 New Year Honours for his efforts during the First World War.[1]

Houses for Willetts

Other works

Central London Railway stations

Measures-designed entrance to Oxford Circus station.
Measures's original 1900 Shepherd's Bush station building (demolished 2008)

Measures was responsible for a number of buildings on the original section of the Central London Railway, many of which survve today as London Underground stations. He favoured terracotta as a building material, constructing his station buildings using prefabrication of factory-made ceramic blocks. This allowed him to design stylistically consistent structures quite econnomically. His tunnel platforms were lined with glazed ceramic tiles. Measures's techniques influenced the work of another contemporary Underground station architect, Leslie Green.[2] His 1900 design for Oxford Circus station was a single-storey entrance on the corner of Argyll Street and Oxford Street, clad in pale pink terracotta and decorated in a Mannerist style. Today it is considered to be the best surviving example of Measures-designed station architecture and the entrance, and the building above it, is Grade-II listed.[3][4] It should be noted that the red ceramic building on the western corner is by Leslie Green.

Measures designed the following stations on the Central London Railway:

Measures also designed the original station building for the railway's Wood Lane station, which opened in 1908 for the Franco-British Exhibition, although this was later modified to a design by Stanley Heaps. The station was closed in 1947 and the building has been demolished.

References

  1. ↑ The London Gazette: (Supplement) no. 30460. p. 370. 7 January 1918.
  2. ↑ Burman, edited by Peter; Stratton, Michael (1997). Conserving the railway heritage. p. 199. ISBN 9781136745003. Retrieved 24 February 2016.
  3. ↑ Historic England. "Oxford Circus Underground Station at the north-east corner of Argyll Street and Oxford Street, including offices above (1400976)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 24 February 2016.
  4. ↑ Mike, Horne. "The Story of a Station — Oxford Circus" (PDF). Archived (PDF) from the original on 12 July 2015. Retrieved 24 February 2016.
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Images of Harry Bell Measures designed Central London Railway stations from London Transport Museum Photographic Archive:

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