Frederick Francis Charles Curtis

FRIBA The Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) is a professional body for architects primarily in the United Kingdom, but also internationally, founded for the advancement of architecture under its royal charter granted in 1837, three suppl ...

(9 August 1903 – 16 June 1975) was the first chief architect for British Railways from 1948.

Career

Curtis was born on 9th August, 1903, at Frankfurt-on-Main. His father, Francis Curtis, was a lecturer in English at the

Technische Universität Darmstadt The Technische Universität Darmstadt (official English name Technical University of Darmstadt, sometimes also referred to as Darmstadt University of Technology), commonly known as TU Darmstadt, is a research university in the city of Darmstadt ...

, and from 1922 to 1927, Frederick Francis Curtis studied there. He then worked as an assistant and lecturer at the same institution until 1933. With the ascent of the National Socialist Party in 1933, he left Germany and moved to Britain where he worked with

Charles Holden Charles is a masculine given name predominantly found in English and French speaking countries. It is from the French form ''Charles'' of the Proto-Germanic name (in runic alphabet) or ''*karilaz'' (in Latin alphabet), whose meaning was " ...

on the Southern Railway until 1936. He was a lecturer in the Liverpool School of Architecture from 1936 – 1946 and during the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...

served in the Railway Engineers at General Headquarters, India Command. He is mentioned in The Black Book by the National Socialists and had the invasion of Britain been successful, he would have been arrested. He was appointed an architect to the Great Western Railway company in 1947 in succession to Brian Lewis and became the first Chief Architect of British Railways in 1948. He retired in 1968 and was succeeded as Chief Architect to British Railways by Bernard Kaukas.

Works

*Peverel, Shellwood Road, Leigh, Surrey, 1936. *British Transport Police Dog Training School, Elstree * Perivale tube station 1947 (based on original designs by Brian Lewis) *

Hanger Lane tube station Hanger Lane is a London Underground station in Hanger Hill, Ealing, on the border between West and Northwest London. It is located on the West Ruislip branch of the Central line, between Perivale and North Acton stations, and is in Travelca ...

1947 (based on original designs by Brian Lewis) * South Ruislip station 1948 *Mechanical Engineering Museum of the British Railways Technical Centre, Derby. *British Rail Technical Centre, London Road, Derby 1965–68. *Sunderland station

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Curtis 20th-century English architects British railway architects Great Western Railway people British Rail people Fellows of the Royal Institute of British Architects 1903 births 1975 deaths Technische Universität Darmstadt alumni Academic staff of Technische Universität Darmstadt German emigrants to the United Kingdom