Ralph Sydney Tubbs OBE FRIBA (9 January 1912 – 24 November 1996) was a British architect. Well known amongst the buildings he designed was the Dome of Discovery at the successful Festival of Britain on the South Bank in London in 1951.

Background

Ralph Sydney Tubbs was born in

Hadley Wood Hadley Wood is suburb of north London, close to the border with Hertfordshire. It is part of the London Borough of Enfield, north of Charing Cross, close to Chipping Barnet. History The area in which Hadley Wood is situated is part of ...

, Hertfordshire, in 1912. He was educated at Mill Hill School and then the Architectural Association, which is highly regarded in

Modern architecture Modern architecture, also called modernist architecture, or the modern movement, is an architectural movement and style that was prominent in the 20th century, between the earlier Art Deco and later postmodern movements. Modern architectur ...

and engineering.

Career

In 1935, Tubbs began working for Ernő Goldfinger, participating in the design of Goldfinger's house on 2 Willow Road. In 1940 he designed the ''Living in Cities'' exhibition for the British Institute of Adult Education and the Council for Encouragement of Music and Arts, for which he made in 1942 a small book as well. During the

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, Tubbs was not in services for medical reason, and worked as firewatcher. Buildings designed by Tubbs include (dates shown for design to building) * 1935–1938 only working drawings for 2 Willow Road,

Hampstead Hampstead () is an area in London, England, which lies northwest of Charing Cross, located mainly in the London Borough of Camden, with a small part in the London Borough of Barnet. It borders Highgate and Golders Green to the north, Belsiz ...

, London (designed by Erno Goldfinger) * 1948–1951 Dome of Discovery, South Bank, London * 1952–1953 YMCA Indian Student Hostel, Fitzrovia, London * 1956–1961 Baden-Powell House,

Kensington Kensington is an area of London in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, around west of Central London. The district's commercial heart is Kensington High Street, running on an east–west axis. The north-east is taken up by Kensingt ...

, London * 1960

Granada Granada ( ; ) is the capital city of the province of Granada, in the autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Andalusia, Spain. Granada is located at the foot of the Sierra Nevada (Spain), Sierra Nevada mountains, at the confluence ...

House,

Manchester Manchester () is a city and the metropolitan borough of Greater Manchester, England. It had an estimated population of in . Greater Manchester is the third-most populous metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, with a population of 2.92&nbs ...

*1959-1973 Charing Cross Hospital,

Hammersmith Hammersmith is a district of West London, England, southwest of Charing Cross. It is the administrative centre of the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham, and identified in the London Plan as one of 35 major centres in Greater London. It ...

, London (constructed 1969–73) Ralph Tubbs's Dome of Discovery project was given tribute at the Millennium Dome. In 1951, The Dome of Discovery was not only the largest diameter dome in the world, 365 feet across, but was totally unsupported except around the perimeter.

Personal life

In 1946, Tubbs married Mary Taberner. They were longtime residents of Wimbledon Village, and had two sons and a daughter. On 24 November 1996, Tubbs died from complications of sepsis and subacute bacterial endocarditis at St George's Hospital in London, aged 84.

Publications

* *

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tubbs, Ralph 1912 births 1996 deaths 20th-century English architects Alumni of the Architectural Association School of Architecture Fellows of the Royal Institute of British Architects Deaths from endocarditis Deaths from sepsis in the United Kingdom People educated at Mill Hill School People from Hadley Wood Officers_of_the_Order_of_the_British_Empire