Walter William Thomas (April 1849 – 30 October 1912) was a Welsh architect who practised in the English city of

Liverpool Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...

and specialised in the design of pubs. Thomas' most notable work is the

Philharmonic Dining Rooms The Philharmonic Dining Rooms is a public house at the corner of Hope Street and Hardman Street in Liverpool, Merseyside, England, and stands diagonally opposite the Liverpool Philharmonic Hall. It is commonly known as ''The Phil''. It is re ...

on Hope Street, built around 1898–1900 for the brewer Robert Cain. It is considered to be "of exceptional quality in national terms" and was designated by

English Heritage English Heritage (officially the English Heritage Trust) is a charity that manages over 400 historic monuments, buildings and places. These include prehistoric sites, a battlefield, medieval castles, Roman forts, historic industrial sites, Lis ...

as a Grade II*

listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building is a structure of particular architectural or historic interest deserving of special protection. Such buildings are placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Hi ...

until February 2020, when it was updated to Grade I and became the first purpose-built Victorian pub in England to gain this honour. In 1907, Thomas designed the Vines, a public house on Lime Street, also for Cains. This is also listed at Grade II*. In addition, it is generally believed that he designed Audley House on London Road, a shop for

Owen Owen Owen Owen was a Liverpool-based operator of department stores in the United Kingdom and Canada. Beginning with a drapery shop in Liverpool, a chain of department stores was built up, often by taking over rival retailers. The company remained u ...

, and some of the homes surrounding

Sefton Park Sefton Park is a public park in south Liverpool, England. The park is in a conservation district of the same name, It is the largest public park in Liverpool and the Liverpool City Region. Suburbs neighbouring the park include Toxteth, Aigb ...

, as well as additions to the Brook House on Smithdown Road.

References

Bibliography * 1849 births 1912 deaths Architects from Liverpool Public house architects {{UK-architect-stub