Horace George Marsh (16 March 1921 – October 1998) was an English architect, best known for his work on the design of buildings including

Centre Point Centre Point is a building in Central London, comprising a 34-storey tower; a 9-storey block to the east including shops, offices, retail units and maisonettes; and a linking block between the two at first-floor level. It occupies 101–103 ...

in London and Alpha Tower in Birmingham, in his role as a partner in the architectural practice of R. Seifert and Partners.

Early life

Born in Birmingham, Marsh studied at the

Birmingham School of Architecture Birmingham City University (abbrev. BCU) is a university in Birmingham, England. Initially established as the Birmingham College of Art with roots dating back to 1843, it was designated as a polytechnic in 1971 and gained university status in ...

while working as a pupil with a local architectural firm, before joining the leading Birmingham architectural practice of H. W. Weedon & Partners in 1941.

Career in London

In 1946, Marsh moved to London, working for a variety of architects until he joined the practice of

Richard Seifert Richard Seifert (born Reubin Seifert; 25 November 1910 – 26 October 2001) was a Swiss-British architect, best known for designing London's NatWest Tower (now officially named Tower 42), once the tallest building in the United Kingdom, ...

in 1957, becoming a founding partner in the newly formed R. Seifert & Partners a year later. Seifert's own early work is typified by Woolworth House of 1955 on London's Marylebone Road. Marsh's architectural style was very different and brought a fresh design input to the practice. From the time of Marsh's arrival in the late 1950s their work displayed a new-found flamboyance influenced by the Swiss architect

Le Corbusier Charles-Édouard Jeanneret (6 October 188727 August 1965), known as Le Corbusier ( , ; ), was a Swiss-French architectural designer, painter, urban planner and writer, who was one of the pioneers of what is now regarded as modern architecture ...

, Brazilian

Oscar Niemeyer Oscar Ribeiro de Almeida Niemeyer Soares Filho (15 December 1907 – 5 December 2012), known as Oscar Niemeyer (), was a Brazilian architect considered to be one of the key figures in the development of modern architecture. Niemeyer was b ...

and the American practice

Skidmore, Owings & Merrill SOM, an initialism of its original name Skidmore, Owings & Merrill LLP, is a Chicago-based architectural, urban planning, and engineering firm. It was founded in 1936 by Louis Skidmore and Nathaniel Owings. In 1939, they were joined by engineer ...

. Marsh was to be the practice's leading designer throughout the 1960s and early 1970s and worked closely with Richard Seifert on many of his most important buildings including

Tolworth Tower Tolworth is a suburban area in the Surbiton district, Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames, Greater London. It is southwest of Charing Cross. Neighbouring places include Berrylands, Chessington, Epsom, Ewell, Kingston, Long Ditton, New Malden ...

and CAA House (originally called Space House) in London, and Alpha Tower in his home city of Birmingham. Marsh was elected a fellow of the

Royal Institute of British Architects 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 ...

in 1968 and retired from practising architecture in March 1986.

Death and legacy

Marsh died in October 1998. Of R.Seifert and Partner's most famous buildings on which Marsh worked, Centre Point was listed grade II in 1995, and Alpha Tower was listed grade II in 2014. The house Marsh built for himself and his family in

Radlett Radlett is a large village in Hertfordshire, England, between Elstree and St Albans on Watling Street, with a population of 10,060. It is in the council district of Hertsmere in the south of the county, and forms part of the civil parish of A ...

Hertfordshire Hertfordshire ( or ; often abbreviated Herts) is a ceremonial county in the East of England and one of the home counties. It borders Bedfordshire to the north-west, Cambridgeshire to the north-east, Essex to the east, Greater London to the ...

, was also listed Grade II in 1999.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Marsh, George 1921 births 1998 deaths 20th-century English architects Architects from Birmingham, West Midlands People from Radlett