David Wyn Roberts (1911 in

Cardiff Cardiff (; ) is the capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of Wales. Cardiff had a population of in and forms a Principal areas of Wales, principal area officially known as the City and County of Ca ...

, Wales – 8 November 1982) was a British architect and educator, who designed more university buildings for

Cambridge University The University of Cambridge is a Public university, public collegiate university, collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209, the University of Cambridge is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation, wo ...

than any other architect. With a

modernist Modernism was an early 20th-century movement in literature, visual arts, and music that emphasized experimentation, abstraction, and Subjectivity and objectivity (philosophy), subjective experience. Philosophy, politics, architecture, and soc ...

practice based in

Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a List of cities in the United Kingdom, city and non-metropolitan district in the county of Cambridgeshire, England. It is the county town of Cambridgeshire and is located on the River Cam, north of London. As of the 2021 Unit ...

, he also designed many city

housing project Public housing, also known as social housing, refers to Subsidized housing, subsidized or affordable housing provided in buildings that are usually owned and managed by local government, central government, nonprofit organizations or a ...

s, schools, and private residences.

Early life

Roberts' father, John Roberts, was a preacher and historian of the

Presbyterian Church of Wales The Presbyterian Church of Wales (), also known as the Calvinistic Methodist Church (), is a denomination of Protestant Christianity based in Wales. The Calvinistic Methodist movement has its origins in the 18th-century Welsh Methodist revival ...

. David Roberts was educated at the Cardiff High School and Welsh School of Architecture, and was awarded the 1936 RIBA Soane Medal. David Roberts was commissioned as an officer in the

Royal Engineer The Corps of Royal Engineers, usually called the Royal Engineers (RE), and commonly known as the ''Sappers'', is the engineering arm of the British Army. It provides military engineering and other technical support to the British Armed Forces ...

s in August 1942 and he served in the Italian campaign. Roberts married architect Margaret MacDonald Baird, and they settled in Cambridge where they built their house at 11

Wilberforce Road Wilberforce Road is a street in the western outskirts of Cambridge, England, which runs north–south for 550 metres, connecting Madingley Road with Adams Road, which runs eastwards to Grange Road. The road was built in 1933, although sever ...

. Their only son, Nicholas Wyn Roberts, born in 1948, became an architect and professor of architecture at

Woodbury University Woodbury University is a private university in Burbank, California. Founded in 1884 with initial campuses in Downtown Los Angeles, Downtown and Central Los Angeles, Woodbury University is one of the oldest institutions of higher education in Sout ...

in Los Angeles.

Career

Roberts began teaching at the Department of Architecture, University of Cambridge in 1946, and became a fellow of

Magdalene College, Cambridge Magdalene College ( ) is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. The college was founded in 1428 as a Benedictine hostel, in time coming to be known as Buckingham College, before being refounded in 1542 as the College of St Mary ...

in 1958. He influenced many students and employees who became scholars and architects, including Anthony Vidler, Lionel March, Nicholas Ray,

Cedric Price Cedric Price FRIBA (11 September 1934 – 10 August 2003) was an English architect and influential teacher and writer on architecture. Early life and education The son of the architect A.G. Price, who worked with Harry Weedon, Price was b ...

, and John G. Ellis. Roberts was a modernist architect in postwar Cambridge with his University Health Centre built in 1951. Roberts's earliest college work was at Magdalene where, in Benson and Mallory Courts, he created a small townscape; he refurbished existing houses, and built new infill, to create a street effect, rather than imposing the conventional form of a college courtyard. With his headquarters overlooking the Cam, Roberts kept his office small, six to eight people. Many young architects passed through the practice. Rory Spence wrote in the catalogue, ''David Roberts Architect'', "He seemed to approach each job with fresh enthusiasm and great integrity. It is no wonder that he had such admiration for

Philip Webb Philip Speakman Webb (12 January 1831 – 17 April 1915) was a British architect and designer sometimes called the Father of Arts and Crafts Architecture. His use of vernacular architecture demonstrated his commitment to "the art of common ...

and the meticulous individual care which he lavished on each design. Like Webb, David never worked to a formula, as so many of even the best architects do, and possibly for this reason his buildings are less well-known than they should be. There is always a strong idea at the heart of each building, related to its context, which is unique to that building". A former student, Geoffrey Clarke, became a partner in 1964. Roberts is described as the first architect to specialise in modern educational buildings. He gave a stepped profile to his designs for student accommodation (for example at

Clare College Clare College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge in Cambridge, England. The college was founded in 1326 as University Hall, making it the second-oldest surviving college of the University after Peterhouse. It was refounded ...

in 1956 and Jesus College in 1963) to give the rooms a dual aspect. His student accommodation buildings at Jesus College, Cambridge and

St Hugh's College, Oxford St Hugh's College is a Colleges of the University of Oxford, constituent college of the University of Oxford. It is located on a site on St Margaret's Road, to the north of the city centre. It was founded in 1886 by Elizabeth Wordsworth as a ...

, have already been given a heritage listing of Grade II. Roberts and his wife are buried together in the Ascension Parish Burial Ground in Cambridge.

Notable works

*University Health Centre, Gresham Road, Cambridge, 1949 *St Mary's Convent School, Bateman Road, Cambridge, 1955–1971 *River Building, Magdalene College, Cambridge, 1956 *Clare Hostel, Chesterton Lane, Cambridge, 1957 *

Boathouse A boathouse (or a boat house) is a building especially designed for the storage of boats, normally smaller craft for sports or leisure use. describing the facilities These are typically located on open water, such as on a river. Often the boats ...

for

Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge Sidney Sussex College (historically known as "Sussex College" and today referred to informally as "Sidney") is a Colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge in England. The College was founded in 1 ...

, 1957 *The Snowcat, Arbury Road, Cambridge, 1959 *Sacher Building,

New College, Oxford New College is a constituent college of the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom. Founded in 1379 by Bishop William of Wykeham in conjunction with Winchester College as New College's feeder school, New College was one of the first col ...

, 1961 * St Bede's School, Birdwood Road, Cambridge, 1961 * Dominican Priory, Buckingham Road, Cambridge, 1961 *North Court,

Jesus College, Cambridge Jesus College is a Colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Jesus College was established in 1496 on the site of the twelfth-century Benedictine nunnery of St Radegund's Priory, Cambridge, St ...

, 1963 *

Fitzwilliam Museum The Fitzwilliam Museum is the art and antiquities University museum, museum of the University of Cambridge. It is located on Trumpington Street opposite Fitzwilliam Street in central Cambridge. It was founded in 1816 under the will of Richard ...

, Trumpington Street, Cambridge, 1963 *Kenyon Building,

, 1964 (now Grade II listed) *Roscoe and Gladstone Halls of Residence,

University of Liverpool The University of Liverpool (abbreviated UOL) is a Public university, public research university in Liverpool, England. Founded in 1881 as University College Liverpool, Victoria University (United Kingdom), Victoria University, it received Ro ...

, 1965 * Churchill College, Wolfson Flats, Cambridge, 1965 *St Hugh's College, Stage II, Oxford, 1966 *Cromwell Court, Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge, 1982

Collaboration with Geoffrey Clarke

*New Master's Lodge, Magdalene College, Cambridge, 1966 *East Road Development, Cambridge, 1968 *Buckingham Court, Magdalene College, Cambridge, 1968 *Cosin Court, Tennis Court Terrace, Cambridge, 1969 *Wolfson Court, Clarkson Road, Girton College, Cambridge, 1970 *Trinity Hall, Central Site Development, Cambridge, 1973 *Fitzwilliam Museum, Stage II, Cambridge, 1973 * Burrell's Field, Grange Road, Cambridge, 1976 * Darwin College, Silver Street, Cambridge, 1977 *Rose Crescent Shops, Rose Crescent, Cambridge, 1979

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Roberts, David Wyn 1982 deaths 1911 births 20th-century Welsh architects Academics of the University of Cambridge Alumni of the Welsh School of Architecture Architects from Cardiff People from Cambridge Royal Engineers officers Welsh scholars and academics